Abstract
The paper draws attention to issues of definition and scope in the use of both key terms in the title - new technology and lifelong learning.

Two main areas of literature and enquiry are reviewed - access and participation, and the quality of learning associated with applications of information and communications technology (ICT).

Access plays a central role in both literatures and there is evidence that ICT ownership, while rapidly increasing, is a cause of polarisation between those with resources and occupational status, and the continuation of a significant minority without either. Here as elsewhere however, the speed of change in technology and particularly the likelihood that television and mobile devices will, within five years, offer Internet access as standard, means that generalisations need careful handling. Improved access in this sense does not of course translate into effective access to learning opportunities, and some of the factors which play into these continuing problems of exclusion are reviewed.

The quality of learning which ICT applications fosters is a major concern of the research community though the community itself is highly skewed in favour of applications in contexts of schooling and higher education, albeit that FE is moving rapidly into this field through initiatives such as QUILT and FERL. The paper attempts a balanced view, between the enriched possibilities ICT offers for enhanced understanding and skill development, and the barriers against achieving this, in terms of technology lag among public sector teachers and institutions, inexperience in how to deliver the promise of ICT in practical terms, and contextual factors of time, resource and cultural perception, among both learners and teachers.