Are you ready for this?

I recently caught up with some of my 'nearest and dearest' and had the pleasure of observing my great nephew as he contemplated the differences between technologies. He had been playing a game on an iPad and then switched to watch a DVD on a portable DVD player. I watched with interest as he pinched and expanded his fingers, on the screen, in an attempt to make the screen bigger. As a two year old he has already identified some of the key functions, similarities and differences between technologies. He knows which technologies to use for particular functions.

I have reflected on this over the last couple of days and I wonder - 'Are we ready for him?' As a two year old he has another three years of pre-school learning before he enters his first primary school. Imagine how much knowledge he will have developed by then.

What will his first school learning environment look, sound, feel like? Will we have learning programmes, that are personalised and designed

• to build on his existing knowledge, fostering new knowledge
• to challenge his thinking and stimulate his inquiring mind
• to capture and foster his creativity
• to promote the dispositions of 21st century learning eg. collaboration, risk taking, open-mindedness, reflection
• to integrate technology seamlessly and discerningly

He will be expecting this. Will we have the capacity and capability to deliver?