ETL 401 - series of reflections

Extending my knowledge.

Taking the feedback for ETL 401 from my marker Barbara Braxton I am going to break down each part of my 2nd Assignment over a series of Blogs and put in my own words my learning.

Understand the principles of lifelong learning.
Firstly a Teacher Librarian is aware that learning does not just take place in school but is a lifelong process and a skill that our students will need as they enter and try to remain in the workforce for their entire working life. Research shows that more and more people will need to study well after leaving school and more people in their forties and fifties will need to update and learn new skills to become the driving source in any economy.
Why is lifelong learning a key long-term national issue?
Most Australians have grown up in a world where young workers provided a constant stream of new labour and new skill into the workplace. This process has been going on ever since the “Baby Boom” generation began to join the workforce in the late 1960s. The result is that education in Australia has concentrated on the first 25 years of life. But this process is now coming to an end. Both the labour supply and labour demand are changing.
Labour supply changes
In the late 1980s, people aged 45 or over made up just 24 per cent of the labour market. By 2016, projections say, that figure will rise to 44 per cent. In other words, young people alone will not provide the new skills that drive organisations to innovate and grow.
14th June, 2005 Ceda Committee for economic development of Australia
http://ceda.com.au/public/research/lifelong_learning/learning_policystatement.html

But lifelong learning also encompasses those skills that factor into our enjoyment of life such as being able to enjoy a good book over the holidays or even book a holiday that will meet our needs or the ability to record and reflect our thoughts eg. a blog, a diary, a shopping list, a list of requirements for an Assignment and/or keep in touch with the world through Twitter or online news, etc. The skills that students will use to work cooperatively with other students on projects but also their skills in networking with each other, teachers and future employers, which in this day an age is predominately using all forms of technology.