Making sense of young people’s digital practices in informal contexts: The Digital Practice Framework

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

AbstractThere is a growing body of research looking at young people’s use of digital technology in informal contexts. However, there is a gap in the literature about how to describe and categorise young people’s digital practices in such contexts. This gap is important because in order to be able to understand the differences between young people’s digital practices in informal contexts and how these differences arise, you first need to be able to describe and categorise those differences in meaningful ways. You need to be able to answer the question “How do young people use digital technology in informal contexts?” in order to be able to answer questions such as “How do children’s digital practices in informal contexts vary?” and “Why do children’s digital practices vary?”. This paper is significant because it introduces The Digital Practice Framework, an original, theoretically informed, tool to fill this critical gap in the literature. It goes on to indicate how this framework has been used to analyse the factors that facilitate or hinder the development of young people’s digital practices in informal contexts.