VIII A ny serious consideration given to the future of education and training in the new cyberculture must be preceded by a careful analysis of the profound changes occurring in the way we learn and acquire knowledge. In this regard, we must first acknowledge the speed at which knowledge and know-how appears and is being updated. For the first time in the history of humanity most of the skills a person acquires at the beginning of his career will be obsolete at the end of his professional life. The second observation, which is related to the first, concerns the change in the way we work, where the amount of time devoted to the transfer of knowledge is constantly increasing.
Work is more and more synonymous with learning, transferring know-how and producing knowledge.
What must be learned can no longer be planned and precisely defined in advance. Career paths and profiles are all different and are more and more difficult to channel into programmes or courses that are valid for everyone. We must build new models that more accurately portray this new space of knowledge. Two major reforms of education and training systems are thus necessary. Of course, ODL exploits various remote teaching techniques, including hypermedia, interactive communication networks, and all the intellectual technologies available in cyberculture.