Introduction: innovative methods for researching connected learning

Paying attention to innovative methodologies used to research emerging forms of connected learning is a useful and important way of working out what is new about these kinds of educational settlements and what we do and do not know about the changing nature of learning. This brief article recounts the history of the initiative behind the authors collected in this special issue, making the case that bringing together the disciplines of media studies and education is a necessary way to approach any differences that might accrue from the digital—as medium and object of research. International comparative perspectives can play an important role in developing perspectives in social scientific research into these matters. The introduction describes the articles in the volume and explains how they relate to these central themes.