the shifting objectives of society and needs of students demand a corresponding adaptation of our education environments. In the digital economy, technology dramatically alters the options for inquiry, analysis and expression. Today, the ability to find information quickly and efficiently, manipulate and apply it to solve problems and inform decisions has become a primary asset. The ability to learn, even for an organization, is a precursor to success.

Traditional educational environments and methods do not prepare students with the necessary skills to thrive in today’s society, nor do they train them to prosper in tomorrow’s workplace. For almost a decade, national attention has focused on a new set of skills necessary to prepare students for life and work in a world moving from the industrial age to the digital age.

The necessary knowledge identified by the United States Secretary of Labor’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) includes five workplace competencies and a three-part foundation of skills and personal qualities necessary for solid job performance.

These competencies are: the ability to use resources productively, master interpersonal skills, locate and manipulate information, understand systems thinking and operate technologies. According to SCANS, the foundation for these competencies rests with basic skills including reading, writing, and mathematics as well as the ability to think creatively, make decisions, solve problems and know how to learn.
In the digital age, students will need to navigate technology’s tools, which may mean knowing how to build HTML pages or being able to conduct a dialogue via two-way video conferencing, in order to take advantage of technology’s opportunities.

And, in a society, in which they will be barraged by digital images, students will need to develop multimedia literacy in order to understand the nuances of technology and form their own conclusions. Digital learning gives students a firm foundation in all these essential skills.