It is argued that social media has the potential to bridge formal and informal learning through participatory digital cultures. Exemplars of sophisticated use by young people support this claim, although the majority of young people adopt the role of consumers rather than full participants. Scholars have suggested the potential of social media for integrating formal and informal learning, yet this work is commonly under-theorized. We propose a model theorizing social media as a space for learning with varying attributes of formality and informality. Through two contrasting case studies, we apply our model together with social constructivism and connectivism as theoretical lenses through which to tease out the complexities of learning in various settings. We conclude that our model could reveal new understandings of social media in education, and outline future research directions.

Online learning—learning that involves interactions that are mediated through using digital, typically internet-based, technology—is pervasive, multi-faceted, and evolving, creating opportunities and challenges for educational research in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this special issue, we advance an interdisciplinary agenda for online learning research at the intersection of educational technology, educational psychology, and the learning sciences. In this first article in the issue, we define online learning including its variants, review historical and current contexts, explore its multidimensionality, and assert key issues shaping contemporary online learning. We propose five important lenses: community, engagement, pedagogy, equity, and design-based research, through which scholarly communities are creating knowledge that influences research and practice in online learning contexts. These lenses highlight points of conceptual overlap between the online and psychological learning literatures. The special issue is organized around these lenses and includes an article representing each one, complemented by commentaries that offer critical appraisal and synthesis.

In spring 2020, K–12 schools adopted remote learning amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Using activity theory, the authors examine the educational response to this global health crisis in the United States and the United Kingdom. Data are drawn from three to four key news media publications in each country between 1 February and 31 May 2020. The authors critically examine the tensions and contradictions within and between interrelated systems (schooling, educational policy, home learning). They consider how remote digital pedagogy was perceived and enacted by different stakeholders: teachers, parents, policymakers. Tensions arose between digital pedagogy, system rules and teachers’ digital skills, leading to different experiences for students. The division of labour shifted; parental responsibility for managing their children’s learning increased. Digital equity issues prevailed in both countries (technology access, social support), disadvantaging students from low-income families. National educational policy system responses were more coordinated in the UK than in the US.

Existing research has found that older adults experience technology-related anxiety, resistance, fear, and even technophobia when using digital devices or systems. However, there has been limited conversation in the literature about how scholars define these terms differently, where this anxiety comes from, how current studies or practices deal with such anxiety, and what are possible solutions. To advance this conversation, this article used a scoping review methodology to synthesize themes in the literature on technology resistance among older adults. The scope of the literature review was limited to articles published in peer-reviewed journals. The search keywords included: older adults, seniors, elderly, older people, older population, technology anxiety, resistance to technology, technophobia, digital anxiety, digital resistance, computer anxiety, and resistance to computer. Using PRISMA standards for scoping reviews, 24 articles were selected and analyzed. This review revealed that different terms were used to conceive of and indicate the responses of older adults in showing anxiety, feeling nervous, and hesitating to use technology. A synthesis of studies revealed that research has been done with associated variables such as technology use, perceptions, and intentions, but more research is needed to examine the predictors of discomfort with technology in order to identify effective approaches to resolving technology-related anxiety and hesitancy among older adults. This review contributes to the current understanding of technology anxiety among older adults by illuminating conceptions of the digital divide as it pertains to older populations and suggesting avenues to overcoming it.