In the industrial era the ways of acquiring knowledge were adopted to the existent circumstances. By educating and acquiring certain profession a person was equipped enough for the lifetime, since society did not undergo such profound changes as it is the case today. Typical of the time we are living in are radical changes in life itself as well as in the possibilities of survival. Economic, political and cultural changes are usually sudden and extensive. This makes it extremely difficult to foresee the knowledge needed in the future. Actual needs can only be articulated in actual situations. Nowadays, knowledge has become very fluid. Many new spheres of knowledge come into existence, a lot of once acquired knowledge becomes oboslete. To properly educate today means not to ennumerate the bodies of knowledge one should possess but to change the way of education and to introduce new basic methods for educations. A lot has been written by various specialists on new educational paradigms, new basic pattems have been found, according to which education would suit the present state of socio-economic relationships. Education offered in the time of industrial civilization does not meet the needs of the information society with its completely new relationships and processes. In the first place, new paradigms comprise non-formal education, privacy of education, invisible teacher and invisible (virtual) learning, access to knowledge for everybody (knowledge and education are not owned any more and are not subject to political power), development of character features as long-lasting results of education, permanent education or life-long education. Within the framework of these new relationships certain knowledge can be offered when and where it is needed. Institutions Jose their relevance and are supplemented by personal relations and networks. There is another paradigm of great importance, namely the globalization of education as opposed to the existent national educational sys tems. Modern man needs to establish new relationships in the field of education, especially greater freedom and better possibilities for developing one's personality, distinguishing oneself and iden tifying one's character. When educating, modem man is more and more dependent on him/herself, dependent on the degree and way of acquiring knowledge. Thus, modem man is no longer dependent on the ones offering knowledge. In addition to that, education is closely related to economic and social development. As global market predominated over national markets, educational processes too are defined on global level.Pridobivanje znanja se je v industrijskem času povezovalo z dejanskimi razmerami. Šolanje in poklic sta pripravila človeka navadno za vse življenje, takrat ko še družba ni bila izpostavljena tolikšnim spremembam, kot je danes. Za obdobje, v katerem živimo, je značilno, da se način življenja in preživetja radikalno spreminjata. Spremembe, ekonomske, politične, kulturne, so nenadne in velike. Zato je težko vnaprej predvidevati, kakšno znanje bo človek potreboval. Natančneje lahko ugotavljamo potrebe po znanju šele v konkretnih položajih. Znanje postaja zelo fluidno. Pojavlja se mnogo novega znanja, veliko naučenega pa zastareva. Ključ za ustrezno izobraževanje ni v naštevanju znanj, ki jih danes človek potrebuje, temveč v spremenjenem načinu izobraževanja in v drugačnih osnovnih vzgojnih vzorcih. Strokovnjaki piše jo o novih paradigmah vzgoje, iščejo temeljne vzorce, po katerih bi opredelili vzgojo, primerno sodobnemu stanju družbeno-ekonomskih razmerij. Vzgoja in izobraževanje, ki sta bili značilni za industrijsko civilizacijo, ne zadoščata več za civilizacijo elektronske proizvodnje in informacijske družbe, ker so zanjo značilna nova razmerja in procesi.Nove paradigme obsegajo zlasti neformalno izobraževanje, zasebnost izobraževanja, nevidnega učitelja in nevidne (virtualne) poti izobraževanja, dostop do znanja, ki ga naj ima vsak človek (znanje in izobraževanje nista več lastnina in nista izpostavljena politični moči), razvoj osebnostnih lastnosti kot trajnih učinkov vzgoje, permanentnost izobraževanja ali vseživljenjsko izobraževanje. V teh razmerjih pa se sproti porajajo in zadovoljujejo potrebe po posamičnih znanjih, takrat, ko jih, in tam, kjer jih nekdo potrebuje. Upada pomen institucij, nadomeščajo jih sproti nastale osebne povezave ali mreže. Med pomembnimi paradigmami je tudi globalizacija izobraževanja, v nasprotju s še vedno veljavnimi nacionalnimi izobraževalnimi sistemi. Sodobni človek potrebuje nova razmerja v vzgoji in izobraževanju, zlasti večjo svobodo in možnost za osebni razvoj, profiliranje in identifikacijo. Pri izobraževanju postaja čedalje bolj odvisen od sebe, od tega, koliko znanja in kako ga bo lahko zajel, in ne več od tega, koliko mu ga bo do drugi privoščili. Izobraževanje in vzgoja sta tesno povezana z ekonomskim in s socialnim razvojem. Ker je svetovni trg prevladal nad nacionalnimi trgi, se tudi izobraževalni pojavi in procesi če dalje bolj oblikujejo na svetovni ravni
