Lifelong Learning: Changing Education Institutions
Universities including older learners in their student population. Page 3 of the linked Pass It On Network report (April 2020) on Lifelong Earning and Learning describes four Higher Education innovations that create support for older adult education/work in the longevity economy. Page 4 of the linked Pass It On Network report (June 2020) on Continuing the Conversation adds recommendations about changing higher education to accommodate 60 or 70 year careers.
Age-Friendly Universities. The City of Dublin, Ireland, has been a leader in the Global Coalition of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (see this resource in the Community Support Pathway), exploring a broad range of strategies to expand opportunities for positive ageing. Reporting to the President of Dublin City University, Professor Brian MacCraith, convened an interdisciplinary working group that set out to identify the distinctive contributions that can be made by higher education institutions in addressing the needs of older adults. As a result, 10 generic principles for an ‘Age Friendly University’ were established. They have now been adopted by partner universities in Ireland, the UK, Canada and the USA. An External Advisory Board was also established comprising organizations representing older people’s interests to advise and support the initiative. Encourage your local university to convene an effort to assess current status and plan for greater conformity to the principles in the future.
ONLINE COURSES – Free Audio & Video Lectures – Get 1,300 free online courses from the world’s leading universities -Stanford, Yale, MIT, Harvard, Berkeley, Oxford and more. You can download these audio & video courses (often from iTunes, YouTube, or university websites) straight to your computer or mp3 player.
Grannies Go to School – What happens when schools run out of children to teach? This New York Times article explains how this situation created a windfall for grannies to go to school. Rural schools in South Korea enroll illiterate grandparents to keep the numbers up and better serve their communities.