LIFELONG LEARNING COMPETENCES DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

Introduction. Lifelong learning (LLL) is an intentional learning that people engage in throughout their lives for personal and professional fulfillment and to improve the quality of their lives. Develop the capability for lifelong learning in Higher Education is important to facilitate the incorporation of new graduates to work. To this end, we have designed a program on "Lifelong learning competencies for Higher Education students', which we have applied to students at University of San Diego, California, USA and to the University of Distance Education, Spain. Methodology. We have presented the program by means a workshop where the debate and the reflection played one important strategy. To check the program's achievements we used mixed methodologies, according to the evaluative research. We applied one questionnaire, and together to a practice and the students' personal portfolio, they enabled us to assess the program effectiveness, satisfaction and impact. Results. The comparison of the answers in the questionnaire, before and after of the workshops sing that students improved in their knowledge and awareness about the importance of LLL and key competencies for their profession development. Discussion. The program contributes to improve key competencies and commitment to learning throughout the people's lives.