Substantial investment in e-Learning in global HE contexts has been accompanied by a rapid growth in digital communication technologies. As a result students now engage in a range of digital texts, both in and outside the curriculum, many of which (texting, online chat, web browsing, social networking) are far removed from the more conventional literacy demands of university study. The research project introduced in this paper contributes to our understanding of this changing environment in exploring the nature of literacies, learning and technologies and how these intersect in students' lives as learners. It also throws light on the blurring of the distinction between what is in and what is outside the curriculum and the implications of this for learning. Research in the field of e-Learning has generally taken the technologies as its starting point (Conole et al 2006) and has paid little attention to the part that literacy as social practice plays in the construction of knowledge in digital environments (Goodfellow & Lea, 2007). Drawing on previous research into academic literacies (Lea & Street 1998; Lea & Stierer 2000), this research takes a textual lens to the experience of learning of undergraduate students in a digital age. These students are often referred to as 'digital natives', spending time text messaging, chatting on-line, surfing the net and using social networking sites. Such activity has led to claims of a crisis in student literacy, including the suggestion that students are no longer able to engage effectively in traditional academic tasks such as essay writing. The use of the web is also blamed on an exorable rise in plagiarism. At the same time, e-Learning now plays a central role in the delivery of the curriculum; for example, students now access web-based course resources, participate in online discussion, download lecture notes and presentations, produce their own visual presentations and keep learning blogs. They also have to complete electronic records of progress and personal development plans. Applying in-depth, fine-grained ethnographic-style methods and drawing on research into literacy as social practice, this work in progress paper will provide evidence of students' actual engagement with digital literacies in an attempt to take a measured approach to some of the claims that are being made about 'digital natives'. Students in the study are selected from three very different UK HE institutions. The levels at which they are studying and their social background also vary widely, with some students taking foundation degrees and others honours degrees. This work in progress paper will address questions raised in the mini-track, 'educational technology and the digital divide', and specifically in terms of, 'why are students with equally high access using ICTs to such different extents and in such different ways?
