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This article elaborates on the competencies, often referred to as 21st century competencies, that are needed to be able to live in and contribute to our current (and future) society. We begin by describing, analysing and reflecting on international frameworks describing 21st century competencies, giving special attention to digital literacy as one of the core competencies for the 21st century. This is followed by an analysis of the learning approaches that are considered appropriate for acquiring 21st century competencies, and the specific role of technology in these learning processes. Despite some consensus about what 21st century competencies are and how they can be acquired, results from international studies indicate that teaching strategies for 21st century competencies are often not well implemented in actual educational practice. The reasons for this include a lack of integration of 21st century competencies in curriculum and assessment, insufficient preparation of teachers and the absence of any systematic attention for strategies to adopt at scale innovative teaching and learning practices. The article concludes with a range of specific recommendations for the implementation of 21st century competencies.

The main objective of this study is to develop a self-report instrument to measure pre-service teachers' ICT competencies in education. The questionnaire items of this instrument are based on an existing comprehensive framework and were created with input from experts in the field. The data were collected from a sample of 931 final-year pre-service teachers in Flanders (Belgium). A first subsample was used for an exploratory factor analysis, and a second one to verify the identified factor structure via confirmatory factor analysis. A two-factor structure of ICT competencies was identified: (a) competencies to support pupils for ICT use in class and (b) competencies to use ICT for instructional design. This two-factor structure was confirmed in the confirmatory factor analysis. Recommendations are made on how this reliable instrument can help assess the level and progress of pre-service teachers' ICT competencies.

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Digital technology has become increasingly central in curriculum plans during the last decade, but there is hardly any research about the curriculum in the digital age, nor about 'digital competence' as a new didactic area that has entered the educational field. In this article, we discuss and analyse two interrelated issues: first, on recent trends in curriculum developments in Norway, Sweden and Finland concerning digital competence; and, second, on related research initiatives of relevance for digital competence as an educational field. The article is based on a theoretically informed review of policy documents during the last decade and research initiatives in this field. The outcome of our study show that digital competence has become an increasingly complex concept, with a key emphasis in recent curricula, and is strongly linked to 21 st century education. The article contributes to the ongoing debate about digital competence as part of contemporary educational strategies.