Learning through ICTs in social movements

The UK government’s consultation proposals on informal adult learning, issued in January 2008, recognize amongst other things the importance of self-directed learning, learning in social movements and learning which involves the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) (DIUS 2008). We are also beginning to get a much clearer picture of how computers and the Internet are used by people in their everyday lives and for learning (see Selwyn, Gorard and Furlong 2006). What we know less about, however, is how social movements and adult learning are influenced by ICTs and shape their actions. Our research examines the role of technologically enhanced learning in the environmental justice movement in Scotland through three case studies. Two involve community-based campaigns: one against fish farming in the North West of Scotland; the other is an account of an occupational health campaign over working conditions in a micro-chip processing plant in the industrial belt of Scotland. The third case study involves the national organization, Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES), and a survey undertaken amongst activists and users of the organization’s web site is described in this paper.