The development of skills to critically and creatively use different types of digital devices and applications, whether at home, at school or at work, is one of the most significant references in the knowledge economy. As early as 2000, the OECD reports on its visible economic effects and exposes the essential "competencies" to successfully join the development model supported by the Internet.

So it is evidencing a series of new needs around citizens’ training in this historical moment. The learning related to these necessities constitutes what has been called Digital Competence (DC) by some authors (Gilster, 1997; Lankshear & Knobel, 2008). According to Ferrari (2012) digital competence could be defined as:

A set of knowledge, skills, attitudes (thus including abilities, strategies, values and awareness) that are required when using ICT and digital media to perform tasks; solve problems; communicate; manage information; collaborate; create and share content; and build knowledge effectively, efficiently, appropriately, critically, creatively, autonomously, flexibly, ethically, reflectively for work, leisure, participation, learning, socializing, consuming, and empowerment. (p. 30)

It is not only a technical skill problem, it is also a process that involves higher-order competence to create, communicate and critically think (Aesaert, van Braak, van Nijlen, & Vanderlinde, 2015). At the moment, on the DC pivot fundamental aspects that determine the border between inclusion and exclusion, in addition to those already evident that act on groups excluded or at risk of exclusion: socioeconomic level, culture (s), etc. In this process, the concept of digital inclusion, understood as the assumption, application and promotion of standards and guidelines of accessibility through training and education (Caridad & Marzal, 2006), has joined the digital divide (Selwyn, 2014).

The development of DC has great educational and social relevance in contemporary society. It represents a key aspect for addressing equal opportunities and economic development, citizen participation and social inclusion (Selwyn, 2014; van Dijk, 2005). The present project focuses on identifying, analyzing, evaluating and understanding the digital competence of students at the last stage of primary education (age 12). The influence of this learning in the processes of social inclusion is also analysed in three Autonomous Communities from Spain (Galicia, Madrid and Castilla y León).

This line highlights the importance of Personal Learning Environments (PLE), a set of tools, sources of information, connections and activities that each person uses regularly to learn. The most important part of the PLE is the people with whom it interacts, and this is what has been called Personal Learning Network (PLN), composed of those people that help to learn, and that become a reference in everyday life: the colleagues, the family and the local community (Courós, 2013). These agents are fundamental and help to learn beyond the walls of formal education, being key elements in many of the knowledge that are acquired throughout life. Therefore, this research aims to analyze in depth how the DC is developed in different spaces and how they interact and influence the different agents involved in its construction. As expected, children learn beyond school, with family or friends. This learning, which takes place in a certain context, can be transferred to other scenarios, teaching other agents what has been learned within the school and transferring the acquired knowledge, as some research has already shown (Dabbach & Kitsatas, 2012).

The general objective is set out in the specific objectives:

·      Analyze the process of DC construction in children of 12 years old throughout their biography.

·      Analyze the relationships between the role of families (their social and cultural extraction) and other educational agents in the development of digital competence in children.

·      Inquire into the importance of the peer group in the development of DC.

Aesaert, K., van Braak, J., van Nijlen, D., & Vanderlinde, R. (2015). Primary school pupils’ ICT competences: Extensive model and scale development. Computers & Education, 81, 326–344. DOI:10.1016/j.compedu.2014.10.021 Bourdieu, P. (1988). Cosas dichas. Barcelona:Gedisa Coller, X. (2005). Estudio de casos. Madrid: CIS. Courós, A. (2013). Connected Learning. Available in: http://es.slideshare.net/courosa/etmoocconnected-learning?related=1 Dabbagh, N. & Kitsantas, A. (2012). Personal Learning Environments, social media, and selfregulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. Internet and Higher Education, 15(1), 3-8. DOI:10.1016/j.iheduc.2011.06.002. Ferrari, A. (2012). Digital Competence in Practice: An Analysis of Frameworks. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Gilster, P. (1997). Digital Literacy. New York: Wiley. Glaser, B.G. & Strauss, A.L. (1967). The discovery of Grounded Theory. Strategy for Qualitative research. Aldine: New York. Helsper, E. (2008). Digital inclusion: an analysis of social disadvantage and the information society. Londres: Department for Communities and Local Government. Lankshear, C. & Knobel, M. (Eds.) (2008). Digital Literacies: Concepts, Policies and Practices. New York: Peter Lang. Selwyn, N. (2014). Education and “the digital.” British Journal of Sociology of Education, 35(1), 155–164. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2013.856668 Stake, R.E. (1998). Investigación con estudio de casos. Madrid: Morata. Van Dijk, J. (2005). The Deepening Divide: Inequality in the Information Society. London: Thousand Oaks, CA. Van Dijk, J. (2006) Digital divide research, achievements and shortcomings. Poetics, 34, 221–235. Ying, R. K. (1984). Case study research. Design and methods. Londres: Sage.