Power Users and patchworking – An analytical approach to critical studies of young people’s learning with digital media

Abstract

This paper sets out to problematize generational ca tegories such as 'Power Users' or 'New Millennium Learners' by discussing these in the light of recen t research on youth and ICT. We then suggest analyt ic and conceptual pathways to engage in more critical and empirically founded studies of young people's learn ing in technology and media-rich settings. Based on a stud y of a group of young 'Power Users' it is argued, t hat conceptualising and analysing learning as a process of patchworking can enhance our knowledge of young people's learning in such settings. We argue that t he analytical approach gives us ways of critically investigating young people's learning in technology and media-rich settings, and study if these are pr ocesses of critical, reflexive enquiry where resources are creatively re-appropriated. With departure in an an alytical example the paper presents the proposed metaphor of understanding learning as a process of patchworkin g and discusses how we might use this to understand young people's learning with digital media.