With the arrival of digital electronic computers late in the 20th century, the stability and predictability of necessary literacy and numeracy skills and knowledge evaporated. The ability to know information and to be able to recall it on demand is a skill that is losing importance as online encyclopedias become available on handheld computers. Calculators on the same handheld devices are decreasing the importance of being able to perform mathematical algorithms with pencil and paper. Those tools make increases in efficiency unnecessary, but necessitate different computing skills and extend capacity for applying algorithms.
The same technologies are increasing the importance of skills for finding and using information (such as participation, remediation, and bricolage), while remembering is losing importance. The global connections that are now common increase the importance of cultural awareness as a skill for 21st century students. The speed at which digital technologies are evolving is increasing the need for individuals to be able to adapt their information skills in an equally rapid manner. For these reasons, information skills for print are being replaced.