Studies report that children’s digital technology use tends to increase as they
grow older. Other studies indicate that learner engagement tends to decline as
children progress through their time in school, notably at the transition from
primary to secondary school. This indicates that at the stage when they are
susceptible to declining school engagement, they are increasingly engaged with
technology and networked activity. This paradox is the focus of this multiple
case study which explores six 10- to 16-year-olds’ engagement in their personal
learning networks, highlighting the contextual factors supporting this selfdirected, technology-mediated engagement. This study questions current
understandings of networked learning, extending the approach to include under
18-year-olds. It proposes a typology of networked learning for children and
young people in line with the trajectories of their psychological development.
Undergirded by networked learning and student engagement theory, this study
employs 8 methods – a semi-structured questionnaire, semi-structured
interview, Draw and Talk, historical online records, field notes and memos,
diagrams of participants’ networks, emails, as well as Mime and Tell, a childcentred method developed for this study, capturing children’s embodied,
nonverbal communication. Reflexive thematic analysis has been used to
unpack the data. Participants’ adolescent psychological needs, chiefly for selfefficacy, connectedness, and autonomy, were seen to influence the
construction of, and participation in, their networks. The uniquely structured
networked environment was then seen to support participants’ psychological
needs. This cycle of support is akin to Stage-Environment Fit, known to support
engagement. Insights from this study will be of interest to academics and
scholars in networked learning and to teachers, school leaders, local education
authority leaders, policy makers and all interested in student wellbeing and
school engagement.