Teenagers connected to digital environments – what happens when they get to school? Commonalities, similarities and differences from their perspective

In light of the many major changes in teenagers’ lives of due to digital applications and the significant role they play in their lives, and since school is a place where they spend many hours, this study examined their perspective of how the digital environment is integrated into their school life. Participating in this mixed-method study were 233 Israeli teenagers who completed a questionnaire and of whom 45 were interviewed. Findings show that what they have in common is extensive use of their smartphones and computers for study-related matters, they use many apps and social networks and belong to a variety of study-related groups. Similarities are that they have learned to need information and to obtain relevant information to solve problems or satisfy their curiosity. Differences lie in their comparison of the digital environments of their smartphone and home computer and those used in school, and to some participants the school environment seems outdated, slow, and scholastically and technologically unchallenging.