This work describes key characteristics and genesis of educational system today. As it is considered that we live in information society, presented are major goals of information society education and the school system in general in relation to the labour market. Briefly is described the concept of singularity and how it will make a quantum leap in the history of human development.Education is briefly put in the singularity framework and the concept of future society that is more technologically advanced. This paper also discusses the chronology of future technological development until the singularity age. It is argued that once we reach the singularity age the consequence will be the shift away from economic centered education and employment and toward humanities research.Ultimately, the goal of this paper is to open up a discussion about the different possible future scenarios of education, its long term perspective and the role in society rather than making a precise forecast about the education in mid-21 st century.

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This study evaluates numerous epidemiological, environmental, and economic factors affecting morbidity and mortality from PM2.5 exposure in the 27 member states of the European Union. This form of air pollution inflicts considerable social and economic damage in addition to loss of life and well-being. This study creates and deploys a comprehensive data pipeline. The first step consists of conventional linear models and supervised machine learning alternatives. Those regression methods do more than predict health outcomes in the EU-27 and relate those predictions to independent variables. Linear regression and its machine learning equivalents also inform unsupervised machine learning methods such as clustering and manifold learning. Lower-dimension manifolds of this dataset’s feature space reveal the relationship among EU-27 countries and their success (or failure) in managing PM2.5 morbidity and mortality. Principal component analysis informs further interpretation of variables along economic and health-based lines. A nonlinear environmental Kuznets curve may describe the fuller relationship between economic activity and premature death from PM2.5 exposure. The European Union should bridge the historical, cultural, and economic gaps that impair these countries’ collective response to PM2.5 pollution.

Throughout the history people were fascinated and curious about the future. The future was, and still is seen as a key for prosperous development in all aspects of the society. As such, new discipline is developed -future studies.This paper discusses the discipline of future studies and its role in the society and science. Future studies are analyzed in the context of sustainable development. It is argued that future studies and sustainable development are complementary in nature. Based on analysis of most developed countries in the world, that spend the greatest portion of their budget on research, development and science in comparison to the rest of the world, there is a conclusive link between investments in research, development and science, and the recognition of the importance of thinking about the future. Those countries started to formalize their future orientation in many respected research centres and universities through their educational programs and research. That situation poses the need for other, less well off countries, to follow up.

ICT has changed the way we live, work, learn and communicate. However, the recent uneven expansion of technology use has led to the emergence of differences between countries, regions, groups of people and individuals. In addition, another difference known as the digital divide resurfaced. In this paper the authors have outlined the results of their research, which took place in April and June of 2011 among 4th grade pupils.  The aim of the research was to determine whether the digital divide among 4th grade primary school pupils in certain rural and urban regions exists. Our sample consisted of 286 pupils in 9 primary schools. Four primary schools have been taken as representatives of the urban regions (the town of Zagreb) and 5 of the rural (the region of Nova Gradiška).The results show that the digital divide does not manifest itself when compared against the access of infrastructure. However, the results imply that a digital divide might exist between the pupils of these two regions with regard to the knowledge of technology use, but also to the opportunity of buying new technologies. Key words: digital divide; information and communication technology (ICT); Internet.---U posljednje vrijeme dolazi do neujednačenog širenja i upotrebe suvremenih tehnologija, što dovodi do sve većih razlika između različitih zemalja, njihovih regija, grupa ljudi i pojedinaca. Pojavila se još jedna nejednakost koja se naziva digitalnom podjelom. U ovom radu prikazani su rezultati istraživanja digitalne podjele učenika 4. razreda koje je provedeno u republici hrvatskoj u travnju i svibnju 2011. godine. Cilj istraživanja bio je utvrditi prisutnost digitalne podjele kod učenika 4. razreda osnovnih škola u jednoj urbanoj i ruralnoj sredini Republike Hrvatske. Ukupno je ispitano 286 učenika u 9 osnovnih škola. 4 osnovne škole predstavljale su urbanu sredinu (grad Zagreb), a 5 ruralnu (okolicu Nove Gradiške). Rezultati su pokazali kako se digitalna podjela kod učenika 4. Razreda ne očituje s obzirom na pristup infrastrukturi. No rezultati su uputili i na postojanje digitalne podjele između učenika ove dvije sredine s obzirom na poznavanje upotrebe tehnologija, ali i s obzirom na mogućnost kupovine novih tehnologija. Ključne riječi: digitalna podjela; Internet; informacijsko-komunikacijska tehnologija