“Why didn’t you just Google it?”: Digital media and informal contexts for learning

Scholarship in digital media and education emphasises the potential of technologies to revolutionise learning in formal, non-formal, and informational settings. Yet, studies in informal learning largely focus on American and European contexts. This article contributes a regional perspective from the Caribbean, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Trinidad to argue the importance of the informal strategies individuals adopt to enhance learning experiences. We use the analogy of ‘corridors’ to explore the ways in which students use digital media, and how these practices blend schoolwork subjects and social exchanges. Often, these spaces were pursued outside of formal learning environments, where students created more familial ones for casual and creative discussion. We argue that such corridors are embedded within social and cultural practices and form mobilities towards learning imaginations. Within these contexts we conclude that a deeper understanding of the social dynamics of practice has the potential to improve evidence-based policy in educational settings.