As the population shifted from rural to urban, education became institutional. As the family dispersed, social institutions grew and the factory model for schools was born. Education reflected the values of the time-conformity, compliance, centralization, standardization. The goal of education was to finish school so that we would be prepared to enter the workforce. Unlike the smooth transition of the farmer to a factory job, most factory workers do not possess the qualifications to thrive in this new information-driven age.
Education is at the core of the knowledge age, schools replacing factories as the key institution.
It is likely that more formal education will be necessary in order to acquire the knowledge necessary for success. Rather than finishing school, the new goal of learning will be to acquire access to more knowledge, advanced knowledge and specialized knowledge well past the age of formal schooling. In the past, the definition of an educated person was based on his or her completion of a prescribed knowledge-based program. This is no longer true. In this new age an educated person will be someone who has learned how to learn, and continues learning throughout his or her lifetime.