How Technology Will Disrupt Learning for a Lifetime, Not Just in the Classroom - Audrey Watter, Huffington Post

It's also a huge boon for "lifelong learners," those students -- students of any age -- that are pursuing educational opportunities in informal settings and outside degree programs. The idea of "lifelong learning" isn't a new one. The idea of self-motivated, self-directed learning became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, although "continuing education" and "adult education" have roots that go much farther back in history. It may be cliché to say that it's possible to learn anything you want online. Indeed, information on almost any topic is accessible, if not abundant. But even though lifelong learning is informal, it needn't be unstructured, and when I say that the Internet is providing great potential for lifelong learning, I don't mean simply "You can Google whatever you want."