Digital environments and media contents in pedagogical research: epistemological premises and methodological approaches

Abstract

This paper investigates the epistemological dimensions related to the study of digital environments and media content in pedagogical research through digital methods. In doing so, it will reflect on the often tacit epistemological premises that can lead to narrow conceptions of what can constitute a pedagogically informed study of media in the context of everyday life, with particular reference to the theoretical framework of informal education, questioning how, in considering the inextricable intertwining of epistemology and methodology, it is possible to study digital environments as epistemic contexts of informal learning and media content as cultural objects that are increasingly part of people's continuing education.