Literature Review in Informal Learning with Technology Outside School

TLDR: A review on children's informal learning with technologies outside school is presented in this paper, where the authors discuss the key theoretical approaches to learning that have emerged through studies of learning in alternative settings and with ICTs and then map out the landscape of children and young people's access to and use of digital technologies.

Abstract: For most of us, discussion about learning is inextricably related to formal education systems. However, any interest in the role of ICTs in children’s learning forces the recognition that many children are immersed in ICT-related activities in their homes and with their friends. This recognition requires us to acknowledge a wider ecology of education where schools,homes, playtime, the library and the museum all play their part. This review focuses specifically on children's informal learning with technologies outside school. This review, then, will begin by discussing the key theoretical approaches to learning that have emerged through studies of learning in alternative settings and with ICTs and then go on to map out the landscape of children and young people's access to and use of digital technologies outside school. The review will then draw out key characteristics of children's informal learning with digital technologies through case study examples before, in the final section, offering a synthesis of the theoretical and policy implications of such studies.