Lifelong Learning 1 Running Header: Lifelong Learning Lifelong Learning and Technology

Two changes in the 20th Century unwittingly and fundamentally reshaped 21st Century societies in the developed world: Average life expectancy increased by nearly 30 years and fertility rates fell by half. Individuals are living longer than ever before in human history. In the United States, the average life expectancy is nearly 78 years and steadily rising. Among Japanese women, life expectancy is already 85 years (Oeppen & Vaupel, 2002). Arguably even more profound than individual aging, populations are aging at unprecedented speeds. In the developed world, the number of people over 65 will soon outnumber the number of children under 15 (Hayutin, 2007). Policy makers and pundits are responding mostly to relatively short-term consequences of population aging for social programs like Social Security and Medicare, but life will change in myriad ways and demand new norms for work, family, finances, and education. Virtually all of the societal “problems ” associated with aging populations reflect a mismatch between societal practices and length of life where societal institutions and norms lag behind individual needs, a phenomenon that sociologists refer to as “structural lag. ” (Riley, Kahn, & Foner, 1994). Educational systems built around the needs and strengths o