Abstract:

Currently the idea of lifelong learning resonates in every area of daily life. The aim of this paper is to highlight selected options of lifelong learning and its importance. Lifelong learning represents learning for personal, civic, social and professional purposes of the citizens. It consists of formal education that takes place in educational institutions, non-formal education that takes place in educational institutions outside the national education system and informal learning that takes place as a lifelong process of acquiring knowledge, skills and attitudes in everyday life without organizational interventions. Lifelong learning is the result of an increase in the need for investment in people and knowledge, it promotes the acquisition of basic skills, including digital literacy and increased opportunities for innovation. The current labour market puts very high requirements on a person, so it is necessary that throughout life he develops his knowledge, skills and abilities, and thus is able to adapt to new economic and social conditions. Lifelong learning involves educating citizens in pre-productive age, the basis of which is formed by education in the school system in schools and school facilities. Basic education followed by initial vocational education should provide young people with new skills that are needed in terms of the knowledge society. Lifelong learning also includes education in productive age, usually professional training, including education during unemployment and education in the post-productive age of life. The permeability of these relatively independent subsystems of lifelong learning enables citizens to start and finish learning at all ages of life, to choose the type and area of study and return to studying.

The requirement of the current era is quick utilization of acquired knowledge and skills in career. Therefore, the emphasis is placed on the close link of the preparation of the training programs to employer companies in which the practical part of the training is conducted.
Information society with the rapid development of new technologies, with a huge amount of information and information resources requires people who are going to be ready for such information environment - they will be competent and literate, they will have the knowledge and skills necessary for the 21st century. The new role of the school and its teachers for this time is to help students acquire and develop skills that will enable them to safely and effectively use the best technology options and enable them to fully integrate into the life of society. In the context of information literacy computer literacy is often mentioned as well, which we can consider the ability to use a computer.

Computer literacy is actually a part of information literacy because working with new technologies and, of course, a computer is its essential part. This fact is also recognised by seniors, who are very interested in studying at the university of the third age in the field of computer and information society, where the author of the paper has led the teaching process for several years already.

Keywords:

Lifelong learning, pre-productive age, productive age, post-productive age, digital skills, information literacy, interest education, age mainstreaming.