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A lifelong circular model of education: from cradle to cradle

Khaled Benkrid
Khaled Benkrid
April 25, 2025

Today’s learners face a rapidly evolving technology landscape. In the age of generative AI, in particular, workforce development has taken on new urgency. As discussed in an earlier blog post, educators, industry leaders, and policy makers must work more closely than ever to ensure that talent supply matches the rapidly changing talent demands. Failure to do so has major economic, social, and political repercussions globally. In this blog post, I share how we at Arm Education & Academic Engagements, in collaboration with various partners, are enabling learners to navigate dynamic, modular, and meaningful learning journeys in computer engineering and informatics — from cradle to cradle.

Connecting the dots across levels and tracks

Our approach begins in the early years, where foundational skills in STEM and computational thinking lay the groundwork for future learning. As learners progress—typically around ages 14–16 in most education systems—a bifurcation into academic and vocational/technical tracks occurs. Figure 1. below depicts this using the UK qualifications levels, where the transition happens between Level 2 and Level 3 typically.

Figure 1: Circular lifelong learning journey

It is crucial to ensure learners do not hit dead ends. Whether they pursue academic or vocational routes, creating opportunities for cross-over and upward mobility is essential—because real learning journeys are rarely linear.

What is compelling is how skills at both ends of the journey often echo each other — skills developed in early years resurface in professional upskilling and lifelong learning later. For example, content designed for schools (like Introduction to AI) can be adapted for adult learners or professionals transitioning into tech roles. Moreover, requirements from one stage feed into both preceding stages and subsequent ones to enable learners to progress seamlessly through the pathways. This is why we think of our approach as a “cradle-to-cradle” (rather than “cradle-to-grave”) whereby content is recycled and repurposed throughout in a circular way. 

Linking to the broader education & training ecosystem

 The following table gives examples of learning pathways developed by Arm and shows how this approach can link to content from different providers. 

ML/AI Pathway Digital/SoC design pathway Embedded Systems pathway
Entry level/ skills for life Prompt Engineering (Concept)
Level 1 MicroCourse 
Level 2 Programming with MicroPython

RaspberryPi Pico Projects for Schools

Arduino MKR Projects
Level 3 Intro to AI Intro to Microprocessors Arduino MKR Projects  
Level 4 Intro to Computer Architecture

Computer Architecture Essentials
Beginner’s Guide to Embedded Systems 

Embedded Systems Essentials on Arm
Level 5 ML on Edge Introduction to SoC Design

VLSI Design


Fundamentals SoC Design
Digital Signal Processing

Efficient Embedded Systems

Embedded Systems
Fundamentals


Embedded Linux 

RTOS

Advanced Embedded Systems on Arm
Level 6 AI / LLMs on Mobile Advanced SoC Design EK

Modern SoC
Design


SoC
Design RB
    
Level 7 AI on Arm

Developer Program ML/AI Modules
Arm Training materials

Arm Helium Technology M-Profile Vector Extension (MVE)
Developer Program Embedded Systems Modules

Arm Training materials
Level 8 "Advanced AI on Arm (concept)" SoCLabs
Skills for life Prompt Engineering (Concept)

Bridging to developer and professional training ecosystems

Working within various communities of practice, for example, EduLabs for STEM and computer engineering education, SoCLabs, or the Semiconductor Education Alliance for wider workforce development, we enable scalable mission-driven content and pedagogy/andragogy development with reuse, modularity, and content “translation” across levels. This speeds up the plugging of learning gaps, accelerates learning pathways development, reduces duplication, and makes the whole much more impactful than the sum of the parts. It extends across academic and professional development realms ensuring smoother transitions between formal education and training, and professional practice, in both directions, at different stages of a lifelong learning journey.

Conclusion: A shared mission

Creating learning ecosystems that support lifelong development is both a challenge and an opportunity. A cradle-to-cradle approach fosters collaboration, efficiency, choice, and innovation. If you are a learner, checkout the various resources Arm have produced and join the various communities of practice we are supporting. If you are a content creator, educator, trainer, or enthusiast looking to contribute to a global learning transformation, let’s connect. Together, we can build inclusive, impactful, and future-ready learning pathways — one module at a time.

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