Continuing education

Continuing education and society

Few people remain in one career field their full lifetime and even if they remain in one field, they must continually renew their knowledge and skills. Most adults have more than one career during their lifetime. This occurs because of advances in technology and understanding of new ways to produce things.

Continuing education is ongoing because of the need for current career training or retraining for a new career. Here are some examples of the need of continuing education:

Adults who work in the health industry must constantly update their knowledge and skills to remain competent.
Adults who work in many of the repetitive operation careers are eliminated by advances in technology.
In this situation, the only way out is through continuing education programs. There is a constant need to progress forward to earn advanced education certificates or degrees.
Continuing education demands that adults must understand their rights when purchasing products and services, be involved in community action, and help solve local problems. Only continuing education can help adults build confidence in their life skills and civic obligations.

Continuing education

Continuing education is an encompassing term within a array of post-secondary education. The structure of post-secondary education includes: degree credit courses, non-degree career training, workforce training, formal personal enrichment courses, self-directed learning and experiential learning applied to problem solving.

General outline of continuing education

General continuing education is similar to usual adult education and is intended for adult learners, especially those who are beyond traditional undergraduate college or university age. However, it is not considered to include basic education such as literacy, English language skills, or programs such as vocational training. It is assumed that the student already has an education and is continuing it.

Continuing education involves college or university credit-granting courses, often by students enrolled part-time, and often offered by a division or school of continuing education of a college or university as the university or school expansion. It can also mean enrollment in non-credit-granting courses, often taken for personal, non-vocational improvement. Many such non-credit courses are offered by community colleges.

Continuing education for qualified students

Within the sphere of continuing education, professional continuing education is a learning activity characterized by the issuance of a certificate or continuing education units (CEU) for the documenting of attendance at a seminar or course of teaching. The requirements are intended to encourage professionals to enlarge their knowledge and be ready to understand new developments in their fields. Depending on the field, these requirements may be satisfied through college or university coursework, extra time courses or conferences and seminars attendance. Although individual professions may have different standards, the most widely accepted standard was developed by the International Association for Continuing Education & Training.

Methods of continuing education

The methods of continuing education can include traditional types of classroom lectures and laboratories. Often continuing education makes use of distance learning, which not only includes independent study, but which can include videotaped/CD-ROM materials, broadcast programming, online Internet and online Interactive Courses.

The use of conference group study, which can include study networks as well as different types of seminars or workshops, can be used to ease learning. A combination of traditional, distance, and conference-type study may be used for a particular continuing education course or program.

The changing nature of society requires that workers must gain new skills, new understandings, and new knowledge throughout their lives. This is due to the societal need to produce the best products to ensure its citizens only the finest material items that guarantee a maximum quality of life and leisure. To achieve societal demands workers must continually invest in their educational knowledge and self-improvement activities.

The first two decades of educational life do not adequately prepare the student with working skills for a lifetime. Advances in technology and base knowledge make the requirement for continuing education essential. Lifelong learning helps adults cope with the rapid increase in required worker skills and knowledge.

Impediments to continuing education

Adults face many obstacles for continuing their educational goals and needs. Common obstacles to continuing education are the following: Money to pay for continuing education

Colleges and technical schools offer various forms of financial assistance. Schools offer assistance in obtaining Federal aid, Stafford student loans, student grants, work study programs, student assistantships, on campus employment opportunities, and more. Many employers offer tuition assistance for attending college courses

Psychological problems

Many adults who want to attend college are afraid that they will not fit in with younger students. This is a myth that must be overcome, because in reality the number of students over the age of 25 attending college is almost equal to those under 25. Adults going back to school and fitting in provides additional examples of these myths and how they are overcome.

Regularity in studies

Attending school on a regular basis is essential for learning and passing course requirements. For those who cannot afford to leave their full time job, distance education provides the flexibility to fit work and life commitment schedule. The advantages of distance education for adults provide additional information about how to overcome this obstacle.

The societal needs place a strain on adults on their way though life. Continuing education is in the forefront of societal needs because of the rapid changes in technology, worker knowledge, and worker skills. Often adults fall into a self-made pit of not keeping up with their educational needs for a variety of reasons. However, the obstacles to escaping the pit can be overcome.