ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews access to digital technology by children and young learners at home and in school and marks step change that has taken place at start of the second decade of the twenty-first century. Recognising this and adapting effective practice to new contexts is at heart of understanding how digital technologies can best support effective teaching and meaningful, authentic learning. The 'smartphone' is a remarkable amalgam of phone, computer, camera and television, which is not quite like any of them, and yet is more than all four together. Schools in many Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries installed computer rooms with fixed machines attached to wired networks in 1980s and 1990s. Quality of access to information and communications technology (ICT) in school remains highly variable, with number of issues affecting the quality of learners' experience. It seems that these schools are combining elements of the possible models of computer use and achieving a spread of pedagogic approaches.
