A digital career choice: rural students’ perceptions of the value of digital media learning based on their career aspirations

Digital media skills are becoming more important in contemporary Australia. As the digital economy gains momentum, the 2020 Australian Digital Inclusion Index reports a continued gap between rural Australians and urban Australian, indicating the continued existence of the digital divide. However, almost half of all Year 10 Australian students did not have sufficient information and communication technology (ICT) skills in 2014. Thus, understanding how rural students who are interested in digital media careers learn and develop digital media skills is important for improving digital media education for isolated student groups. This research draws on 25 interviews with rural Queensland students contemplating careers both within and outside digital media industries. The findings show different forms of cultural capital students draw on to further their digital media skills, including extracurricular opportunities and self-learning. This research highlights the interviewed students’ perceptions of the value of digital media learning based on their career aspirations.


Introduction
The necessity of digital media skills in contemporary Australian society is undeniable. Students currently in high school will know a predominantly digital economy in their lifetime (National Innovation & Science Agenda, 2015). Consequently, developing an arsenal of digital skills while at school is important. While the introduction of the Australian curriculum and the continued rollout of the National Broadband 1 3 A digital career choice: rural students' perceptions of the… employable during their working lives. The following sections will provide context surrounding digital media learning and internet use in Australia, before detailing the methods used to conduct the research. Finally, findings and discussion will be presented.

Context
The introduction established the continued presence of a digital divide between rural and urban people in terms of digital inclusion, and a deficit in ICT skills for many Australian students. The ICT component of the Independent Review into Regional, Rural, and Remote Education in Australia acknowledges rural Australians' need for reliable and cost-effective internet services; services which should be available to the majority of Australians after the National Broadband Network (NBN) is completed (Halsey, 2018). The review also highlighted the increasing importance of ICT for "education and lifelong learning" (Halsey, 2018, p. 6). The interview sample drawn on comes from a niche group of students who are both rural and interested in a digital career over and above using ICT as a general capability. This section opens by canvassing the myriad definitions associated with digital media learning and ICT skills, then establishes the importance of ICT skills as a general capability. Finally, this section will introduce a model for innovation processes in schools, allowing for the consideration of findings in terms of what could be learned from students with subject area/career level interest in digital media to improve general capability ICT skills for Australian students.
Contemporary media environments are complex and require varying levels of skill to navigate and work in (Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA), 2009, p.1). Access to technology does not guarantee competence, and consequently, the development of digital media skills among young people must be nurtured by "media educators" (Hoechsmann & Poyntz, 2012, p.5). Duncan-Howell (2012, p. 829) defines digital competence as "the confident and critical use of information and communication technologies for employment, learning, self-development and participation in society". This links directly to Bock's (2010) definition of 'information habitus' with respect to appropriate access to, and use of, resources to operate in daily living. For clarity, in this article digital competence is understood to mean having digital media skills. It is important to note that ACARA (2014) and the students interviewed refer to ICT skills as the ability to use a computer for everyday tasks, such as word processing, browsing the internet, and creating online content. This definition is compatible with digital competence and digital media skills, and represents appropriate skills necessary in the digital media careers defined previously. Education systems around the world have grappled with the integration of these literacies and competencies into the curriculum, knowing that while their students may have acquired digital literacy skills outside the classroom, others may lack opportunities for independently accessing technology (Hoechsmann & Poyntz, 2012). To this end, Pangrazio (2016, p. 165) argues, "without the 'proper resources, pedagogy, and educational practices', technology has the potential to increase the existing divisions of cultural capital, power and wealth".

3
In the context of this article, Pangrazio's statement places considerable responsibility on the school to provide students with digital media skills. As well as being a learning area within the Digital Technologies subject area, ICT is one of the seven general capabilities of the Australian curriculum (ACARA, 2017). This means that ICT outcomes should be addressed as a standalone learning area within Digital Technologies, but also should be addressed across all other subject areas as a general capability. ICT as part of Digital Technologies, and ICT as a general capability are currently embedded across all year levels of the Australian curriculum between Foundation Year and Year 10 (ACARA, 2017). Increasing access to digital technologies to enhance digital media literacy has long been a priority for rural schools. Prior to the introduction of a national curriculum, the former Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) Task Force on Rural and Remote Education, Training, Employment, and Children's Services developed a national framework for rural education. The framework identified six "essential enablers for the provision of quality education in rural and remote locations", including information and communication technology (MCEETYA, 2001, p. 8). The task force stipulated that having access to high-quality technology and training would allow rural students to connect within and beyond their community to learn (MCEETYA, 2001).
Despite these frameworks and the length of time they have been discussed, ACARA reported a drop in ICT skills among Year 10 students between 2011 and 2014 (ACARA, 2014). More significantly, students' ICT skills were reported as lower in regional schools than urban schools, and lowest in remote schools (ACARA, 2014). While there appears to be little literature critiquing the national curriculum since its introduction, one issue identified within the education system is the need for continual teacher training in ICT as technologies develop (Romeo et al., 2012). Teachers lack confidence in incorporating ICT into learning and a shortage of relief staff in non-urban areas means teachers face difficulties attending offsite training (Broadley, 2010). A government-funded initiative, Teaching Teachers for the Future, aims to teach pre-service teachers how to incorporate ICT into their existing knowledge of pedagogy, assessment, and curriculum (Romeo et al., 2012). Petko et al. (2015) offer an important framework for assessing the innovation processes utilised in schools for digital media and ICT adoption in schools. Their research suggests there are four types of innovation process, namely, complementary bottom-up and top-down development (type 1), standalone top-down development (type 2), standalone bottom-up development (type 3), and optional development, where neither bottom-up nor top-down development takes a strong lead (type 4) (Petko et al., 2015). Petko et al. (2015) made several key findings in relation to this framework. Types 1 and 2 development initiatives were found to be the most effective in terms of ICT use and resource saturation in schools (Petko et al., 2015). Meanwhile, type 3 development initiatives were likely to fail on their own, particularly without funding (Petko et al., 2015). Extending this framework to the wider context presented here, Petko et al.'s (2015) research indicates that the best development for digital media adoption in schools occurs when curriculum and resourcing for schools meet teacher and student-driven initiatives to encourage and propel digital media use and ICT skilling within schools. Presently, despite the presence of the national curriculum, there remain many Year 10 students nation-wide with insufficient ICT skills (ACARA, 2014). At the same time, both the Independent Review into Regional, Rural, and Remote Education and the 2020 Australian Digital Inclusion Index point to a need for more infrastructural input for rural Australians particularly. In view of Petko et al.'s (2015) framework, these circumstances indicate a need for both top-down and bottom-up development to improve digital media adoption and ICT skill innovation processes in schools.
The need for ICT learning in schools is due to a "shift from industrial to information based knowledge economies" and the changing nature of work (Digital Education Advisory Group, 2013, p. 20). The Digital Education Advisory Group (2013) argued that incorporating ICT in teaching and learning would reduce the inequity caused by remoteness (among other things). Even within rural communities, industries are shifting to incorporate jobs that require more specialised skills (Townsend, 2010). Rural Australians who do not learn the skills required to work in the digital economy may risk falling into poverty (National Rural Health Alliance, 2013). According to the National Innovation and Science Agenda (2015), digital skills will be required in all Australian jobs within the decade. More specifically, more than 50% of Australian workers were estimated to require digital literacy skills for work by the present time (Foundation for Young Australians (FYA), 2015). These statistics highlight the necessity of digital media skills for rural youth. Given the necessity of digital media skills for their future, this article asks the research question: How do rural Queensland students interested in a digital media for their career learn digital media skills?

Methodology
This article is part of a qualitative PhD study exploring the factors that influence rural Queensland students with an interest in digital media when making decisions about higher education. An interest in digital media was dictated by interest in the digital media careers outlined by Higgs et al. (2007), or an interest in using digital media in another profession. The research question 'how do rural Queensland students interested in a digital media for their career learn digital media skills?' limits the factors investigated in this article to school and digital media.
Qualitative data were collected using the life history method across 25 35-45 min, semi-structured interviews with Queensland students from rural communities. The semi-structured interviews maintained open discussion while keeping conversation limited to participants' experience with digital media learning (Weerakkody, 2009). The openness of the life history method was necessary to ensure that student responses were not narrowed, as minor detail was important in each interviewee's story of how they had learnt digital media skills (Fontana & Frey, 2000). A limitation of this method of data collection is that the findings are not transferable to populations due to the subjective responses and small participant numbers. Interview questions were devised to address specific aspects of the research question and included: 'tell me about when you use the internet', 'did you learn any [of your digital media skills] at school?', and 'where would you go to learn specific digital media skills?'.
To recruit participants, principals from six Queensland schools were approached for permission to conduct interviews with up to six of their students in Years 10-12 interested in studying or working with digital media. This age group was chosen as research has shown that students are thinking most of postschool options after Year 9 (Hegna, 2014). Four schools consented to students being recruited. Schools were selected by correlating a list of Queensland schools in the outer regional, remote, and very remote zones of the ASGC-RA (based on the ARIA + framework) that offered education up to Year 12. One school was in an outer-regional zone, two schools were in remote zonings, and one in a very remote zone of Queensland. Students at the accepting schools were provided with information about the study, and could respond to the researchers to offer their participation. The project aimed to interview six students per school, as this is the suggested saturation point for interviews using the life history method (Goodson & Sikes, 2001). Signed consent forms from school principals, participating students, and their parents were returned to the research team before interviews took place. All participants have been given a pseudonym.
Transcribed interviews were coded using structural coding. Structural coding allows passages of interview transcripts to be categorised according to their overall topic (Saldana, 2009). For instance, in this research, structural coding allowed exchanges about different means of learning digital media skills to be coded as a single category. This coding method is appropriate for research using semi-structured interview methods with numerous participants (Saldana, 2009).

Life history interviewing method
Life history, as its name suggests, is an individual's recount of their life, experiences, and attitudes, with particular emphasis on the tension experienced between a person's individual skills and their interpretation of specific situations, and what is cultural tradition or expected of them (Goodson & Sikes, 2001). The significance of this method for this project is its ability to uncover some understanding of the resources available to rural students who aim for careers involving digital media, and, in terms of 'information habitus', how useful the students perceive these to be. Goodson and Sikes (2001, p. 21) stipulate that the life history method is appropriate when the topic of enquiry is "far-reaching", such as why someone becomes a certain type of professional; or in this case why one would aspire to be a digital media professional. Beginning to understand the resources rural students seek to reach their digital media learning aspirations through research could lend support for claims such as the use of ICT in learning reduces inequity caused by remoteness (Digital Education Advisory Group, 2013), and quality resources and learning in digital media allow rural people to connect outside their communities (MCEETYA, 2001).

3
A digital career choice: rural students' perceptions of the…

Findings
In line with Bock's (2010, p.32) definition of 'information habitus', findings identify the "disposition and resources" necessary to use digital media successfully, according to interviewed students and their planned careers. These resources are represented by how digital media learning occurs in four different situations identified in interviews: school, extra learning opportunities outside school, selflearning, and university. Most importantly, the findings describe, from the perspective of the students, how important each learning resource is in developing their digital media skills. The perceived importance of each resource appears to have some correlation to their planned career choice. Students aiming for careers outside the digital media realm still acknowledged its necessity in their future career. This highlights students' understanding of the difference between digital media interest as a subject area versus ICT skills as a general capability.
We begin with university, and how the interviewed high school students perceived the importance of studying digital media at tertiary level if one intended to work in the digital media profession. The students' perceptions set the tone for the following sections, as interviewees shared their beliefs about the effectiveness of digital media learning at school, in extra learning opportunities offered outside the school, and students' self-learning.

University: should digital media be studied at university?
Students interviewed had greatly varying opinions on whether or not a digital media professional needed to attend university in order to practice. To an extent, this opinion seemed to be connected to whether or not the student intended to be a digital media professional. This is reflective of Bock's (2010) definition of 'information habitus', as the data provided examples of differing dispositions on which resources are necessary to operate successfully in a daily work scenario. For example, Gracie and Kirsty, who were aspiring digital media professionals, thought digital media professions should be studied at university: Kirsty: [To learn about digital media extensively] I'd probably just go to uni, so then you could understand it a lot more better and like more fully. … I guess overall uni would definitely be like the start of it all.
In terms of 'information habitus', Kirsty, who wants to be a graphic designer or artist, views university as a resource necessary to function as a professional in the field. Similarly, Gracie, who planned to work in Information Technology (IT), had previously valued the Information and Digital Technology (IDT) certificate she completed at school, and frequently completed online computer courses at home to improve her skills. However, she had a new-found belief that university was the place to study information technology because of a visit from a university ambassador: Gracie: Yes actually … now that I've heard that dude that came in yesterday (from a Brisbane university), and had a chat about it, [I'm] sold on the idea of going to Brisbane and learning about IT because there are more opportunities.
Gracie's 'information habitus' had been expanded by her encounter with the university ambassador, altering her opinion on the resources necessary to be a digital media professional. Gracie's intention to study at tertiary level and rely on pedagogy to ensure she has the best skills to be successful is reflective of Pangrazio's (2016) assertion that high-quality resources and teaching should be utilised to minimise social and economic divides.
Russell, who planned to study IT to become a technician, and Jacinta, who wanted to study to become a web designer, stated that digital media could be learned in many places, but most effectively at university. Nate, an aspiring filmmaker, thought that university would be the main place to get a "proper, specialised education" in digital media. Other students from Russell's school shared this opinion, with Dwayne, who wanted to study medicine, and Harley, who was considering animation as a career, specifying that school was a good place to learn general digital media skills, but any specific interest in the field should be studied at university level. These students' opinions build on Gracie's opinion: that university is a necessary resource to build adequate 'information habitus' to become digital media professionals. From these excerpts, Dwayne was the only student not planning to study digital media who suggested a university education would be necessary to become a digital media professional. Concurrently, some students who were aiming for a digital media career, like Thomas, thought that university study would be a "great head start" but did not think that "you need to learn everything at university". The students' differing opinions demonstrate the individuality of each person's 'information habitus' based on the varied dispositions on the necessity of university study to be a digital media professional.
Interviewed students planning possible careers outside the digital media profession felt it was less necessary to attend university to become a digital media professional. Laura, who planned to study medicine or medical engineering, believed "there are lots of online courses that you can take [outside university]" that would improve digital media skills instead of attending university, suggesting that all necessary resources to build 'information habitus' as a digital media professional are available outside higher education. Daniel, who was contemplating studying information technology, agreed: "I think you could teach yourself; I've been teaching myself so much". Robbie, who planned to study science at university after a gap year, similarly did not "feel like you have to go to university to learn something like using [Microsoft] Word", instead suggesting TAFE for learning basic digital media skills. While he conceded that other digital media professions such as journalism or IT would benefit from university attendance, Robbie clarified that learning and professional understanding can occur without a formal degree and that "university's where you have to go to get that stamp of approval". Daniel similarly felt that university was necessary to get a good job in technology. In this case Robbie and Daniel place the development of 'information habitus' outside university. While the degree would act as cultural capital (a stamp of approval) (Bourdieu, 1986), Robbie is separating university as an unnecessary resource to use information successfully in everyday life (Bock, 2010). Rachel, who planned to study event management, could see the benefits of a university education, but felt that study was only half the learning curve in a digital media profession. She stressed the need for a job in the field, or work experience in order to become a digital media professional with practical experience. In relation to Pangrazio's (2016) view of the importance of quality learning to develop digital media skills, Rachel placed equal value on resources inside and outside the realm of formal education. Molly, an aspiring photographer, and the only interviewee who was not, at the time of interview, planning to attend university, thought resources available outside university would be equally as sufficient: Molly: I reckon you can learn [digital media] now at school. Or in your own spare time when you're studying something, it doesn't have to be actually at uni. I think it's just more in depth at uni than at school.
Molly's disposition towards digital media learning is similar to Rachel's in that she could see the value of university as a resource, but did not feel it was necessary to function in everyday life as a digital media professional. David, whose career interests are in business, thought that current digital media professionals would not require a university education, but thought a degree would become necessary within the next decade. This appears to indicate a perceived change in disposition necessary to be successful as a digital media professional over time.
Discussion has so far focussed on what does or does not qualify as necessary resources and/or dispositions to have 'information habitus' sufficient to be a digital media professional. However, interviewed students were of varied opinion about whether or not school digital media learning was adequate. The next section explores students' beliefs about whether the resources available to them at school were adequate to build their 'information habitus'.

School
From the following data excerpts, it is evident that there is variety in whether students believe their school is preparing them to function in their information-based world. While this is not to say they are not connected with the 'mainstream' (as per Bock's (2010) pedagogy of social inclusion), some students clearly suggest that while their schools have had a key role in exposing them to digital media skills, their ICT learning has dropped off after about Year 9: Jake, who planned to study engineering: Probably Year 8 and 9-was probably when I started to do more complex stuff and then yeah I just worked stuff out from there. Laura, who planned to study medicine: I learned a lot of my computer skills [at boarding school, attended for grades 8-10]. Y'know like just the first year or two-so most of what I can do with computers are from those first IT classes, but I don't think I've learned anything here [at a local state high school] about computers.
Joey, who planned to study IT: To get the certificate to be digitally competent was to know how to use a mouse and keyboard! Open a [Microsoft] Word document, change some font colours, save documents, and that's it! Congratulations you're digitally competent! And I said 'Great, I was doing that in grade three!' … There are other courses here [at school] that teach you to use [Microsoft] Word and PowerPoint and stuff like that and they do, but it's not practical stuff. Robbie, who planned to study science: There was ICT that I did last year (in Year 10)-but I feel like my knowledge went backwards from that. I used AutoCAD for designing; I did media gaming which had nothing to do with gaming… and I did an earlier mid gaming course which was animations and whatnot… never used it after that.
Joey and Robbie felt that the ICT learning they covered in their early years of high school was unhelpful, and therefore inadequate. Jake, Laura, and Robbie were also not planning on pursuing digital media as a career. In terms of 'information habitus' it may be that these students already have the skills they deem necessary to everyday life, in terms of their dispositions and necessary resources, in order to function in a digitised society (Bock, 2010). In the national curriculum, this also highlights the difference between ICT as a general capability, as these students treat it, and ICT as a subject area. Students studying ICT in specific subjects will be heard from below. From a resource perspective, the students' perceived lack of ICT learning in later high school may also mean that the school has exhausted the resources they have and are unable to further advance the interviewed students as part of learning up to Year 10. Considering these perceptions through the lens of Petko et al.'s (2015) framework, it is feasible that innovation process development surrounding digital media and ICT needs further support, but it is not possible from these comments to ascertain whether the need is top-down, bottom-up, or both.
The interviewed students' opinion of school digital media learning could also possibly be explained by their skills surpassing the content being taught. Sophie, who was planning a career in psychology, recalled an ICT subject in early high school before she could choose her own subjects, but "honestly can't remember what we did". Dwayne, who was intending to study medicine, studied ICT in Year 8, but "didn't really do much". He now studies ICT at a higher level as an elective subject and finds it "fun and interesting" now that he is learning to code. Concurrently, Harley, who was considering studying animation, started studying the subject Digital Media in senior high school, but found it boring because it was "mainly just to make sure you knew how to use a computer". He switched to Information Technology Systems (ITS) which covered, he deemed, "more helpful" areas of web and app development, and coding. From these interview excerpts from students, it is apparent that dissatisfaction with digital media related subjects occurs most often when the student feels they are not adding to their resources, or 'information habitus', indicating that the base level resources provided at school were not enough to meet their interest (Bock, 2010). From a curriculum perspective, this again highlights the difference between ICT as a general capability and ICT as a subject area. For Dwayne and Harley, changing subjects was enough to regain their interest and met their needs for further information. Despite planning to study medicine, Dwayne said he was interested in neurology, and therefore the use of computers and robotics in surgery.
Other students clearly valued the digital media skills learned at school. Gracie, who was aspiring to a career in IT, found completing a Certificate of Information and Digital Technology (IDT) at school helpful. Jacinta, who planned on becoming a web designer, valued her ICT class in earlier years, and the digital technology subject she was currently taking. She was learning various skills including coding and Photoshop. For these students, these subjects cater to career specific interests and skills. Several interviewed students asserted that what they knew how to do on a computer was learned at school: David went on to mention that he had not studied an ICT specific subject since Year 7 or 8. In these cases, the resources provided by the school appeared to have been enough for the students to build their skills and 'information habitus' (Bock, 2010). For Kirsty and Molly, their digital media learning at school was providing them with opportunities to develop their potential job skills; this was a positive step in light of the statistics around the future of digital media skills in the workplace (FYA, 2015).
Students who perceived their learning needs were not being met at school were looking beyond school to build skills and find valuable resources. The following sections detail the extra learning opportunities and self-learning students were motivated to undertake to reach a level of 'information habitus' that satisfied them.

Seeking extra learning opportunities
Data indicated that students sought outside curriculum opportunities offered by the school to learn more or differently about digital media. For a rural student interested in digital media, a relevant opportunity could be to participate in extra courses outside the classroom environment. For example, Ellie, who was interested in becoming a dentist, completed a virtual information, digital media, and technology course when she was in Year 10. She negotiated the opportunity with her school and parents, who emphasised the importance of learning ICT, as she did not enjoy studying ICT the previous school year. Ellie said the course taught her referencing, how to make good [Microsoft] PowerPoint presentations and effective emailing, which are basic digital media skills that will be important for her time at university. By contrast, she "didn't learn how to do much" in ICT classes she did "in younger grades". Ellie has effectively made the resources available that she needed to build her 'information habitus'.
The outer-regional students were provided with some opportunities to learn digital media at their school, with the offering of senior subjects such as Digital Media, Information Technology Systems (ITS), and Information Programming Technology (IPT). Students at this school had also been informed about a 'Microsoft Certification Program', which at the time of interview Stuart and Kyle, who both want to enter IT professions, were considering pursuing. The availability of these programs and subjects are examples of the increased resources available to students at the outer-regional school in terms of 'information habitus', and focus on ICT as a subject area rather than a general capability. This also highlights a likely type 1 innovation process for digital media adoption within the school, as top-down and bottom-up initiatives complement one another (Petko et al., 2015). Furthermore, the availability of the extra resources may have had an influence on the dispositions of students at the school; this suggestion is made by recognising the outer-regional school had the highest proportion of participants aiming for a digital media career out of all schools visited.
It is important to note that opportunities and subject availability varied greatly from school to school. Another of the four schools visited as part of this project did not have the resources to offer students science subjects internally, instead having students learn by distance education. Subjects that were offered internally were often mixed classes, with students across three grade levels learning in one class. However, whether this would best be considered as a need for development from bottom-up, top-down, or both according to Petko et al. (2015) is not able to be determined. Students interviewed from this remote school were not doing the same levels of self-learning (discussed in the next section) as those offered more learning opportunities by their school.

Self-learning
Self-learning was seen to be occurring when students were learning at home, outside of the classroom, or outside of any other extra learning opportunity offered by the school. Six students from the outer-regional school in the interview sample offered interesting dispositions around their use and attitudes towards digital media. These students were generally using digital media to build skills beyond what their school could provide for them. The students showed an appreciation for the world of knowledge they were yet to learn, despite already studying high level digital media subjects in their final years of high school. The same six out of seven students interviewed at this school planned to pursue digital media careers. The six students' selflearning, detailed in the next paragraph, demonstrates Duncan-Howell's (2012) definition of digital competence, as the students work towards being confident users of digital media for employment.
Thomas intended to work in IT following university study. When asked if he was digitally competent, Thomas specified that he "had a lot to improve on, but I have enough information on what I want to do right now". He utilised online learning forums such as Linus Tech Tips 2 to supplement what he learnt in his IT-specific subjects at school, fuelling his opinion that one can become a digital media professional without university study. Harley, who was considering animation as a career, also said he was "not as competent as I want to be-I want to know more". He was completing online courses through Code Academy 3 at home to improve his skills. Kyle and Russell, who also attended the same school and planned on entering the IT industry, both experimented with skills and computer hardware at home using information on the internet. Taking a step further from online learning at home, Stuart secured himself a casual position at an IT firm following a work experience placement in the city. He appeared to have appreciated what he was able to learn outside a traditional learning environment. The behaviour of these boys demonstrated how their environment was supporting and nurturing their aspirations even though they sought additional resources to those provided at school.
The examples and excerpts from these interviews with students demonstrated a motivation to learn beyond their schooling. Relating this motivation to cultural capital, this can be interpreted a number of ways. Students at this outer-regional high school are being provided with several opportunities within their schooling, and specific subject selection, to acquire digital media skills. The five boys mentioned in the previous paragraph, whose interest in digital media moved beyond general skills, had outgrown the opportunities provided by their school due to their keen interest in the topic. As a result, they were independently seeking more information and opportunities to build their skills, and therefore their 'information habitus'. The students' unique ways of collecting and deciphering information about their digital media interest, and their aspiration to reach a higher level of education in digital media connects with Bock's (2010, p.32) concepts of 'information habitus' and 'pedagogy of social inclusion', as the boys worked to change their "horizons and potentials".
Students at one of the remote schools were also using digital media for their own learning. Robbie, who was interested in studying science, used the internet to try and improve his English with the goal of raising his OP. 4 He found Grammarly, 5 an application for English skills and assistance, through an advertisement while playing the game Dungeons and Dragons. 6 Gracie frequently completed short computer courses online at home to build skills in preparation for university and a career in IT. Daniel, who was interested in technology, similarly was teaching himself Python (a coding language) online at home. While he was using this to better his digital media skills, he believed that his general schooling was suffering because he was "too busy doing [his] own stuff".
Here, we reach an intersection between what areas of learning students perceived needed pedagogical direction, and what they perceive they could learn unaided with technology. Pangrazio's (2016) argument that unguided online learning can increase divides in capital is relevant, however, all students received their foundation learning at school and were supplementing their school learning, rather than replacing skills they had already mastered at school. Consequently, the self-learning of these students was driven by their motivation to build their 'information habitus' with the aim of better preparing themselves for their chosen career.

Conclusion
This article has provided insight into how rural Queensland students perceived digital media learning and the level of 'information habitus' necessary to practice as a professional, both inside and outside the digital media industry. While all students agreed that having digital media skills would be important for their working life, their perception of where this information could be learned varied greatly. There was some suggestion that students' perceptions of which resources are necessary for learning digital media skills may correlate with their chosen career path, as university as a place to learn digital media professionally was more important to interview students who intended to pursue a digital media career.
In relation to answering the research question "how do rural Queensland students interested in a digital media for their career learn digital media skills?", while digital media learning at school provided most students with foundational learning in digital media, students were split in opinion about whether or not this learning was adequate for their learning needs. This disjuncture between adequate and inadequate digital media learning at school in part related to whether or not the classroom environment was holding students' interest. An important observation here is that students who were disinterested in learning when ICT was focussed on as a general capability were instead interested in specific ICT subjects of their choosing. Students at two schools (the very remote school and the outer-regional school) were taking up extra learning opportunities offered by their school to gain access to further resources to build their 'information habitus' around digital media. Of this group, all but one student intended to study a digital media course at university. This created a link between interviewed students taking up extra learning opportunities offered at school, and their (intended) participation in higher education to study digital media after school. Finally, students at two schools (one of the remote schools and the outer-regional school) were extending what was taught at school by selflearning via the internet at home. The varying combinations of these factors led to differing opinions about whether or not a digital media professional should study at university, and how this might change in the future.
The findings indicated interviewed rural students sought other learning opportunities outside school, when their corresponding school subject either did not meet their needs or motivated them to seek further information. These other learning opportunities allowed students to build 'information habitus' sufficient to what they believe will be necessary to be successful in their lives according to their planned post-school study and career. The interviewed students self-learning at home were actively aiming to attend university to study a digital media degree. In this sample, this finding has relevance in terms of increasing the proportions of rural students participating in digital media courses at university. A paradox exists between what the Australian curriculum has included as sufficient skilling in digital technologies, and what some interviewed students believe the level should be. In this sample, the learning level is evidently expected to be higher when the student has an interest in working or further study in the area. However, in this case, ICT as a general capability needs to be separated from ICT as a subject area, as they are separated in the national curriculum. While practically impossible to address the individual needs of every rural student interested in digital media, the interviewed students' actions towards self-learning lend support towards finding a way to better digital media education with extra learning opportunities and resources students can utilise online at home, particularly if the extra education could influence their decision to study at university. Uncovering which resources and extra learning opportunities would be most beneficial in rural contexts requires larger scale, further research. However, a starting point for this research could be found within the innovation process framework, and the establishment of a need for top-down development, bottomup development, or both, to improve digital media adoption and ICT use within a particular school (Petko et al., 2015). The self-learning groundwork from students indicates bottom-up movement when top-down development alone has not been enough, but also indicates that the developments are not complementing each other in the most productive way. Interviewed students undertaking self-learning online to learn digital media skills lends support for use of the online self-learning model in other useful and economical applications such as widening participation in remote communities.
Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions.

Data availability Not applicable.
Code availability Not applicable.

Conflict of interest The authors have not disclosed any competing interests.
Ethical approval The research was approved by the University Human Research Ethics Committee at QUT, approval number 1600000372. The research was also approved by the Queensland Department of Education and Training.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission