International organizations as well as national policies in many countries are reconsidering curriculum frameworks from the perspective of competences that are considered relevant for living in and contributing to a global and digitalized society. These competences are often referred to as 21st century skills, life long learning competences or key competences. Technology plays a specific role in the acquisition of 21st century skills, not only because the ubiquitous use of technology in society also requires students to be digital literate, but also because technology may facilitate the acquisition of 21st century skills. We start our contribution with presenting conceptualizations of 21st century skills in four meta-reviews (Binkley et al., 2012; Dede, 2010, Kereluik et al., 2013); Voogt & Pareja Roblin, 2012). Based on these meta-reviews we present research about four major curricular challenges: The need to define and implement digital literacy Although there is consensus that digital literacy is important in today’s society, a precise conceptualization that helps to define the competencies students’ need are lacking. The justification for a clear conceptualization can be found in the large differences students show in their computer and information literacy competencies. In addition standards for computational thinking skills are just emerging, despite the educational policies that many countries are developing about the position of digital literacy in the curriculum. Challenges for the literacy curriculum To be able to navigate and participate in an increasing global and digital world students need to be prepared. The objectives associated with this preparation is outside the scope of the literacy curriculum, calling for new literacies. Research on how to develop students into critical and effective users of information and their ability to communicate with others in a global world is presented. Implications for citizenship education Citizenship education is often part of the compulsory curriculum and aims to develop the culture and identity norms the country values. Because of the global digital world we live in, the term digital citizenship emerged. Research about how digital citizenship is defined, its challenges and its implementation is presented. Alignment of students’ digital practices with the curriculum Students’ digital practices are often not well aligned with the curriculum and the school. Promising findings on how digital technologies and media can be used to encourage engagement and learning across sites and contexts will show how alignment of students’ use of digital technologies with teaching and learning can contribute to students’ identity building.

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