Developing an understanding 
of the impact of digital technologies on teaching and learning in an ever-changing landscape

In this introduction chapter, we reflect on the contributions of research in the field of digital technologies in education during the last decade (2008–2018). The guiding questions leading these reflections are (1) what progress in understanding the role and impact of digital technologies in education has been made? and (2) what emerging themes can be observed that warrant further study? Overall, the progress made in the last decade is promising, and new research themes have emerged. This chapter highlights selected findings and issues that serve as exemplars for those addressed throughout the 2018 handbook, within the thematic strands that served as the blueprint for the reference work itself. Whenever possible, brief comparisons and contrasts are made to the evolutions over the past decade, since the first edition of the handbook was published.