FE News chat with Lucy Dunleavy, Founder and CEO of LearnBox about the modern learner and the future of learner engagement at the EPA Live conference.

Lucy explains that the modern learner is time shy, easily distracted and needs bite sized training to meet their needs. Lifelong learning is changing, the non accredited lifelong learning route could involve Googling a problem or watching a YouTube video to learn something like DIY or to solve a problem such as fixing a boiler.

When then explore what the FE and Skills sector can learn from the modern learner and how we can engage them with accredited training, particularly how to engage learners out of the classroom. Lucy explains that bite sized micro accreditation is a fantastic way to build an accredited lifelong learning strategy.

LearnBox are best known for using video to deliver bite sized training for Functional Skills, and the results / outcomes have been incredibly positive. We ask Lucy, what can the sector learn from this, particularly with new ways of engaging learners. She explains that the World Economic Forum list the most important skills for the future are Creative thinking, critical thinking and problem solving and Lucy highlights that these should be taught and drawn out in schools, if not in adult education to enable these core skills for the future.

We then ask Lucy for her views on how to teach learners to learn to learn, to be ready for the jobs and skills requirements of the future.