In a world with accelerating change, we need a flexible education system which enables people to learn new concepts and skills on demand. In The Matrix, the characters download skills directly into their brains.  I've thought about a more realistic method, but first a little history.

Just-in-time is a production strategy made popular by Toyota as part of their lean manufacturing philosophy.  This gist is that parts are only delivered to a plant immediately before they are needed.  This enables plants to rapidly change the types of goods produced, to facilitate mass customization, and to avoid the costs of maintaining high inventory levels.

A Just-in-time Education (JITE) system would providing small, self contained learning modules for myriad topics.  People could learn new skills, just before they need to use them.

In addition to a short lesson, each module would contain a links to prerequisite modules (if the user needs a refresher on supporting concepts), context about how the module relates to other topics, examples of the concept in practice, and perhaps some problems so the user can test their new knowledge.  Ideally, the information will be in multiple forms (video, slides, text, step-by-step projects) so the user can choose their preferred learning style.

For some fields, like math, Khan Academy comes close to this vision.  The concepts are broken into bite size chunks and there are related exercises to practice the material.  There's even a nifty knowledge map to provide context.

Video lessons, however, are tough to skim and may not work as well for subjects other than math.

A full JITE system would enable radical overhaul of the education system.  Students could avoid boring classes on material which seems irrelevant to their lives and careers.  Curriculum would be focused on teaching children how to learn - ideally through projects that the children find interesting.  The students would make progress on their projects and stop for JITE modules when necessary.

Such an education system would be much more fun for the students and practical for life after school. It may even inspire people to love learning. After graduations, adults could use JITE modules to learn new skills for work or for hobbies and side projects.