This article explores 21st century skills, nonlinear thinking skills, and the need for student reflection--which, taken together, serve as an essential foundation for digital-age teaching of today's hypertext learners. The authors discuss why preservice teachers need to use multimedia technologies within the context of students' familiar, technology-rich living spaces to develop their own teaching skills and the technology skills of their students. Exemplary multimedia samples are offered as demonstrations of ways to develop essential technology-related skills in the next generation of teachers.