“Universities must encourage lifelong learning”

José Escamilla, Associate Director of the Institute for the Future of Education at Tecnológico de Monterrey, outlined the trends in lifelong learning and its future.

“Universities must transition from being traditional higher education institutions to education institutions with a new, broader mission that involves lifelong learning,” he said.

Escamilla gave the talk “Redefining the mission: Universities as drivers of lifelong learning.”

“(At the IFE), our aim is to improve the lives of millions of people by transforming continuing higher education for adults”.

During the third day of activities at IFE Conference 2025, the associate director said: “We co-design and collaborate with institutions and governments to achieve this impact on our audiences, higher education students, learners, industry, and the workforce.”

Escamilla addressed trends in lifelong learning, how they affect university degrees, and the future of lifelong learning in universities.

The three trends of lifelong learning

Escamilla listed the three trends in lifelong learning:

1. Relevant and responsive education based on skills

Focused on employability in the market with cumulative learning experiences.

2. Student-centered lifelong learning

Discovering students’ goals and values, adapting to each student’s experiences, skills, and needs, allowing them to make decisions about their progress, and developing problem-solving skills.

3. Using cutting-edge digital technologies in learning processes

Whether face-to-face, hybrid, online, or with synchronous or asynchronous models, in which virtual and augmented realities enable immersive experiences that safely simulate complex environments.

“Universities prepare people for the labor market and society, and the labor market is changing. Artificial intelligence will change the world of business and new tools are required,” Escamilla said.

The future of university degrees and lifelong learning

Regarding the future of university degrees, the associate director of the IFE at Tecnológico de Monterrey said that the challenge is to connect people more with cross-cutting and horizontal skills, as well as soft or power skills.

“We must rethink everything and get used to the idea that our audiences and communities learn throughout their lives. They learn at university, they learn when they work, they learn and work, they work and learn,” explained Escamilla.

He added that the goal should be for university degrees to be more flexible, closer to the needs of society and industry, and based on experience and digital learning.

“We must not forget that we should aspire to transform ourselves through these three major trends that apply to both universities and continuing education,” he concluded.

Tecnológico de Monterrey founded the Institute for the Future of Education as an open, collaborative platform to transform higher education and lifelong learning.

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