Skills for Lifelong Learning after College: A PIL Report

Project Information Literacy has released a report on phase one of its research into lifelong learning. The six-page report reflects on phone interviews with 63 recent college graduates who were asked “a series of open-ended questions about their lifelong learning needs, what sources they used for finding information, what best practices worked for ‘staying smart,’ and which information skills from college were transferable to them later in life.” Results were divided into five preliminary trends, which are summarized here:

• Lifelong learning needs tend to revolve around professional development. Learners may seek out opportunities when preparing for new positions or to stay ahead at work.
• Google is the primary research tool unsurprisingly. Learners dip into multiple sources to find and confirm practical, directly applicable information.
• Blogs are a valued lifelong learning source type because they provide direct access to authoritative voices.
• Learners identify personal best practices to facilitate lifelong learning.
• Generalized critical thinking skills are, in some ways, valued above the specifics taught within a major in the pursuit of lifelong learning.

Project Information Literacy will follow up on these preliminary trends with a much larger quantitative survey on lifelong learning topics in the fall.