The study examines Chinese students' interest-driven practices outside of the classroom setting,
and in particular how such practices are mediated by digital technologies and connected
with school-based learning. It reports on the cases of connected learning extracted from a large
research project that explored students' engagement with digital technologies. Drawing on the
data collected through in-depth interviews and online artifacts, this paper portrays the digital
practices of three secondary students in pursuit of their hobbies. The results show that students'
interest-driven practices are manifested through four inter-connected dimensions: information
consumption, sharing and production, interaction and participation, and problemsolving.
Furthermore, their interest-based practices facilitate extra-curricular activities and
complement formal in-school learning. There are also indications that teachers can play a guiding
and supportive role in bringing together interest-based and school-based learning