The digital revolution has resulted in the elimination of a lot of our traditional methods of learning and working. This occurs both outside and within the classroom. It is evident that a new learning paradigm must be developed. How can this be accomplished? It will not only require creating a digital infrastructure that supports learning but will also require addressing the fundamental questions of what education and learning are to be in the future.
This article explores ways to make learning part of everyday life in the digital age, drawing on the contributions from researchers and teachers all over the globe. The article is targeted towards learners (including parents and students), educators and curriculum designers and technology experts, researchers in learning sciences, as well as the decision-makers.
There are a variety of opinions on what digital-age education should be. However there is a broad consensus that we should support the co-evolution between learning and technology for communication. This includes exploring new possibilities for radically different concepts of education as well as for the development of innovative ways of teaching that are supported by modern communication technologies.
The fact that the majority of present applications of information technology in education are still an “gift-wrapping” form (Fischer, 1998) is among the major challenges. These technologies are used as a complement to existing frameworks such as instructionism, memorization, a fixed curriculum, and decontextualized learning. Many comparative studies use a face-toface setting as a baseline. This limits the study to specific tasks and functions that can only be performed digitally.