I examine how relational approaches to digital skills education enable adults to move from initial engagement to meaningful participation in social and community life. My work focuses on digital inclusion, confidence-building, and social re-engagement, with particular attention to adults who may feel excluded or left behind by technology.

Grounded in both research and practice, this work explores how learning environments can support not only skills development, but also confidence, agency, and participation beyond the classroom.

Key Areas of Work

• Digital inclusion beyond access and technical skills

• Confidence-building and relational approaches to learning

• Adult education as a site of social re-engagement

• Supporting participation beyond the classroom

• Implications for professional learning and programme design

Selected Work

Journal Article

Beyond Access: From Digital Confidence to Participation Beyond the Classroom in Community Education with Older Adults
Research in Adult Learning and Education (Under review)
Explores how adult learners move beyond initial engagement with digital technologies towards meaningful participation in social and community life, reframing digital inclusion as a relational and participation-focused process.

Conference & Assembly Contributions

From Digital Skills to Social Re-engagement: Rethinking Professional Learning in Adult Education
Dublin City University (DCU) Professional Learning Research & Practice Assembly 2026 (Submitted)
A research- and practice-informed paper examining how relational approaches to digital skills education support confidence, agency, and participation beyond the classroom.

Designing for Digital Confidence: Supporting Participation Beyond the Classroom in Community Education
Literacy Association of Ireland (LAI) Conference 2026 (Submitted; practice-based session)
Explores how digital skills programmes can be intentionally designed to support learner confidence and real-world participation.

“It Opened the World and Created the World”: Empowering Adults over 60 through Digital Skills Education in an Irish Community Education Setting
Literacy Association of Ireland (LAI) Conference 2025
Examined the transformative impact of digital skills education for older adults, highlighting themes of empowerment, confidence, and expanded engagement with everyday life.

LAI Conference Proceedings 2025 (Forthcoming)
A written paper building on the 2025 conference presentation, further developing the conceptual framing of digital skills education as a pathway to empowerment and participation.

Invited Talks

Digital confidence first: Supporting adults who feel left behind by technology
National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) Digital Literacy Event 2026
Examines how prioritising confidence and relational support enables adults experiencing digital exclusion to engage meaningfully with digital technologies.

Literature: Bridging Isolation and Connection
Keynote Speaker, Atlantic Technological University (ATU), Sligo English & Drama Symposium 2025
Explored the role of literature in fostering empathy, connection, and shared human experience.

Approach

Across this work, a consistent perspective is emerging: digital inclusion is not only a matter of access or skills, but a process of confidence-building, relational support, and social re-engagement. This approach recognises learning as socially situated and emphasises the importance of trust, responsiveness, and learner experience in enabling meaningful participation.