Digital technologies undoubtedly continue to widen avenues of communication, locally, nationally and internationally. In this context, digital technologies that support communications now encompass a range of devices (hand-held, laptop, and desktop forms, together with associated software and peripheral devices). Increasingly used by individuals, from young ages, uses of digital devices have not only been used to support social communication interaction, but also educational communication interaction. The ways that pupils, students and teachers behave and interact in related contexts and practices are documented in the research literature. However, social and educational communications have also affected and influenced parents and guardians of young people, but the research evidence about parents/guardians is much more limited. (While the term parents/guardians is used in this text, it should be noted that this includes, more broadly, ‘carers’ and ‘care-givers’, that is, those who have full-time responsibilities for children and young people undertaking full-time education.)

This Special Issue will consider this under-represented topic of ‘Parents/guardians, education and digital technologies’. Whilst there is previous literature in this field, our understanding of how this might have changed more recently, prior to and across the period of the pandemic and subsequently, is not widely known.

The special issue is edited by

• Don Passey, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom

• Hazel Woodhouse, School of Education, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

• Amina Charania, Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

• John Anderson, School of Education, Ulster University, Coleraine, United Kingdom

The issue is currently in progress. These papers have in press status (sometimes called online-ahead-of-print). They have been accepted after peer review and can be cited using their DOI number, but they do not yet have citable page numbers.