My choice - the liberal arts education

As the product of a liberal arts education I am biased but I think all the developments we are seeing mean that what we have to work towards is a liberal arts education for all our students.  Where liberal arts have traditionally meant a four year degree (and a pricey one), we need to extend (and fully develop) that idea so that it extends into our institutions for children and young adults.  

A liberal arts education is about learning how to think, to analyze and HOW TO LEARN.  With the skills garnered in a true liberal arts tradition all the things we are talking about - career change, shifting knowledge bases, communications skills, cooperation and networking - are part and parcel.  Someone with a good liberal arts education can adapt, learn new skills, tackle new projects, work with new people, use new tools...because they can learn.  

We live in a world in which business more and more drives education.  The terminology we use from best practice to outcomes all come from the business world.  Business has also been a driving force in the development of university programs that have no place in a traditional view of a university's role.  Hotel management?  Hello?

Business has driven education into odd specialization when in reality a good education would mean you don't need a university to TRAIN people.  You just need the university to help people learn how to learn.  Then they can acquire the specific skills they need when they move into the job/the project/the task of the moment/the year/the job.

Of course this means that we must incorporate new technologies into our curricula so that students develop their skills/knowledge base while using the tools that facilitate communication, cooperation and collaboration.