The zig zag of lifelong learning
22 July 2025
Andrew Crisp considers what will need to change to deliver lifelong learning, drawing on the recent Applied Learning Conference at Singapore Institute of Technology.
Making lifelong learning central to university strategy is easily said, but harder to deliver. In a world where the pace of change is no longer linear, universities often have a different model. And it’s not only universities that face uncertainty. At the recent Applied Learning Conference held by Singapore Institute of Technology, Jacqueline Poh, CEO of JTC Corporation suggested that ‘CEO anxiety is at its highest level for 35 years”.
Looking to the future, Poh suggested that the jobs of tomorrow would be in sectors that could be described as ‘High Tech, High Touch and High Trust’ and that consequently universities would need to help students deliver skills for these sectors. Indeed, the focus of the conference was about how universities could change their offer to help learners and businesses find flexible skills solutions.
Kelly Palmer, author of ‘The Expertise Economy’, quoted ‘A new era for everyone’, a report from Accenture, which found “70% of companies are actively investing in AI, but only 20% of the workforce feels ready to work alongside these tools.”
So what needs to change? What will a sustainable and successful lifelong learning offer look like in a university?
Rather than front loading education and locking students into a degree, collecting microcredentials may help learners to be better prepared for the workforce. With employers increasingly looking at skills and competencies when they recruit, university microcredentials built with employers, and designed with an end in mind, may be a better prospect for learners than a degree that puts foundational theory first and application later.
A degree may also not be the best way to measure success and impact. SIT have already developed a transferrable skills transcript, that details up to 18 core skills that learners have built during their studies. Rather than measuring what learners know, it will be more valuable to assess what they can do. Kelly Palmer commented, “Learners crave low-stakes practice with immediate feedback, but our (university) systems typically provide high-stakes evaluation with delayed feedback”.
The nature of learners will also be different, as well as how they want to learn. Universities will need to provide entry and re-entry points to learning for all ages and educational levels, rather than focusing on 18-year-olds with specific school leaving qualifications. Blurring the divide between pre-employment learning and continuing education in employment will be essential for learners to have sustainable careers, and for universities looking to grow enrolments.
Learners who are already working won't have the energy to come back to campus in the evening for a three-hour lecture and will need different support to succeed in their studies. John Thong, Deputy President (Academic) and Provost at Singapore Institute of Technology, highlighted the need for universities to invest in learning analytics and success coaches.
Data across a learning journey, which may be different for each individual, will provide personalised learning plans, and nudges when learners fall behind, often automated through a learning management systems intelligent agent.
Success coaches will provide human input, engaging learners to maximise individual performance, whether that’s supporting mental, physical and emotional concerns, helping to plan learning, offering support with learning equipment or creating the right space to learn effectively.
A decade from now the platform university may be the shape of the future. A university that works with an industry ecosystem and across society rather than being driven by internal systems will be to the fore, partnering with whoever trains people best. Lifelong learning will be an exciting journey that will zig zag in many different ways.