**10. Conclusion**

The Internet and the continued development of technological infrastructure to support lifelong learning create new challenges and opportunities for both participants of lifelong learning programmes and instructors on these programmes. However, while a number of factors related to the integration of the technology will always need to be considered, it is

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important to bear in mind that technology is only a tool by which the training will be delivered. It is never the technology alone that one can attribute as the reason for failure in any e-learning project. Either a poor understanding of learning theories, a lack of appreciation of the learning styles of different learners or poor consideration of instructional design will contribute to failure.

There is an opportunity for higher education to strategically address this through the formulation of lifelong learning programmes using e-learning. Developing both the infrastructure and content to deploy technology-enabled learning is a resource intensive and time consuming exercise. The challenge remains in developing a suitable framework that integrates technology in the delivery of lifelong learning, while addressing the concerns of work and personal commitments of learners and the issues those new technologies present, in terms of pedagogical, technical and financial challenges to both management and staff in educational institutions.

Deploying blended learning is a complex and demanding undertaking from a pedagogical and technological perspective which places new roles and responsibilities on both the participant and the instructor. In one respect the costs can be prohibitive and can stymie an initiative principally due to the fear of unknown costs without any assurance of a successful outcome. Conversely, if planned for appropriately as part of blended learning, technology may be effectively harnessed as part of deploying blended lifelong learning. The frameworks suggested in this paper are an attempt to address these challenges through a structure that recognises the complexity involved and attempts to address the uncertainty that exists by putting a series of milestones in place in deploying an initiative.
