Powering a learning society during an age of disruption

This book is a compendium of articles from leading experts who discuss, from different vantage points, the importance of powering a learning society during an age of disruption. The publication seeks to capture important issues and trends, and to provide directions for how learning societies and lifelong learning can be best promoted. The book identifies and analyzes trends and future directions with particular reference to selected examples from the Asia and Pacific region. The chapters take stock of major global trends and developments and how they provide a new impetus to re-imagining the role of learning societies. It also provides some case studies of the situation in specific countries. They examine and take into account unprecedented disruptions caused by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, and address key response mechanisms that would enable education systems to “build back better” and envision a “new normal” in education and training. The chapters outline new directions for learning societies resulting from experiences generated by COVID-19 and other major disrupters. While showcasing opportunities and potential gains, the chapters also capture significant barriers that must be overcome to achieve the vision of a new normal. The 21 chapters that comprise this cutting-edge volume are divided into six main parts. After an introductory section that provides an overview of the contents of the book, and a conceptual framework for examining a learning society during an age of disruption, the volume moves on to examining learnability and the learning crisis, future-proofing postbasic education, communities as learning platforms, learning societies and Industry 4.0, and technological solutions to build a learning society.