Understanding mobile digital worlds: how do Australian adolescents relate to mobile technology?

ABSTRACT

Various responses to the ideas of a digital disconnect between home and school include the call for a more thoughtful exploration of the relationship between formal and informal uses of technologies. Studies have indicated the complex and interacting influences on patterns of technology use at home and at school, including patterns of Web 2.0 use that do not align with common assumptions about the characteristics of current students. Together, these studies indicate that we need more nuanced insights into how today’s students relate to available digital technologies if we are to build appropriately on their experiences in education. The current research investigates quantitatively mobile digital practices and literacy as well as attitudes in over 1140 school students in the first years (7–10) of secondary education in Australia in order to enrich insights into these students as learners in contemporary classrooms. The implications of the research for teaching are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescents
• mobile digital practices
• mobile digital literacy
• beliefs and attitudes

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Wan Ng

Associate Professor Wan Ng is Director of the STEM Education Futures Research Centre at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Her research focus is in the area of STEM education and its integrative impact, particularly in science and technology. She is interested in sustainable pedagogy enabled by technology that brings about effective STEM learning and skills development in learners.

Howard Nicholas

Howard Nicholas is Associate Professor in Education at La Trobe University. His research interests include multimodality in communication and learning. Together with Associate Professor Wan Ng, he has researched and published on diverse aspects of learning with mobile devices and the sustainability of technological innovation in education settings.