‘No, Facebook isn’t distracting me, I can study at night’ ICT habits and boundary management among Estonian secondary pupils

Abstract

The topic of this article is the use of information and communication technologies (computers, tablets, and mobile phones) in adolescents and boundary management between mental domains (school and home domain). More specifically, how do Estonian secondary pupils perceive and manage mental boundaries between school work and leisure activities in environments with ubiquitous access to ICT. Building on a mixed methods study consisting of a web survey with structured, closed-ended questions and of focus groups, this study shows that the pupils use ICT for leisure and school work to a great extent, both at school and at home, enabling learning outside of schools as well as leisure activities within schools. The study also shows how the pupils use ICT to integrate and segment school work and leisure activities, at home and in school; and although shifting between mental domains and different genres of participation may have positive effects on pupils’ learning lives, the pupils’ problematic experiences of navigating between domains must be addressed to understand the complexity of living and learning in the e-society.