The old phrase, IT (Information Technology) seriously understates the nature and contribution of the new technologies which serve the digital age. Certainly, we have had marvellous advances in the ways of storing, transmitting and accessing information – and this has serious implications for schooling – but the implications and potential of the technologies go well beyond this.

What is available, I suggest, is nothing less than a catalyst for re-thinking our whole approach to learning and teaching.

It is time to re-visit the question of how people learn most effectively. How can 21st century technologies produce clearer thinkers and better learners? How can they help them construct new understanding and create new connections?

We can also consider the question of what one needs to learn if one is to thrive in a digital society. What kind of society will this be? Where will school fit into it? What learning networks might support both the school and the learner?

We all agree that a focus on information is not enough. But what does one need to find a deeper wisdom? How can the digital technologies help develop such skills as analysing, communicating, designing and discerning?

Digital technologies challenge us to re-think our understanding of literacy in an environment where composition is not limited to the written text but will require selection, editing and collaboration in a virtual environment.

The social side of learning remains vitally important. This can be served and accentuated through what is being called ‘social software’ and ‘relational technologies’. In this context, learning becomes not only a product of solitary reflection on experience but social interaction.

All of this is a great challenge to the imagination of educators who accept the need to explore the ways in which digital technology can enhance the quality of learning and teaching. This challenge is relevant at all stages of schooling.

So I appeal to all teachers: don’t be a digital refugee! Join the digital natives’ community and help enrich and shape the contemporary learning environment. This is the time!