Society is currently in the process of shifting its central focus from the production and distribution of material goods to the production and distribution of information. Indeed, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that the majority of people are now involved in occupations that center around information rather than around industry. It is critical for educators to realize that the computer does not equal the information age; rather, it represents the catalyst that is transforming society's central project to information, just as the machine transformed society's central project from agriculture to industry. In light of this change, educators at all levels and in all spheres are challenged to reeducate others that the changes currently underway in society represent a much more fundamental shift from emphasis on material growth to an emphasis on human growth and development. Moreover, the role of lifelong learning in an information society becomes central. Educators dealing with all segments of life from youth to old age are in a position to catalyze the shift to an information age or society. In this catalysis the role of the educators becomes that of providing education in which learning how to learn supersedes learning how to be taught and in which acquiring information is supplemented by the development of competencies for learning throughout one's life. (MN)