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2015, Page 11

A Spectrum of Users

It is quite apparent to me that the notion of digital natives and digital immigrants is outdated. I agree with Lanclos (2014) when she states that I didn’t just know how to use the internet and it’s related technologies like a first language as Prensky (2001) suggests. I wasn’t just born with a how-to manual embedded in my brain. Continue reading →

Digital Residents and Visitors: What are they?

In this day and age, it’s hard to find someone in our society who hasn’t used the internet at some point in their life. The web is populated by a wide variety of users of different abilities, who use the internet for many purposes. It is useful to classify these users into groups, so that we can understand how to improve user experience. To understand the concept of digital residents and visitors, it is first necessary to look at the idea of digital natives and immigrants. Continue reading →

Digital Residents and Visitors: What are they?

In this day and age, it’s hard to find someone in our society who hasn’t used the internet at some point in their life. The web is populated by a wide variety of users of different abilities, who use the internet for many purposes. It is useful to classify these users into groups, so that we can understand how to improve user experience. To understand the concept of digital residents and visitors, it is first necessary to look at the idea of digital natives and immigrants. Continue reading →

Digital ‘Visitors’ or ‘Residents.’ What’s it all about?

Digital scholar Marc Prensky is known for coining the terms digital ‘Natives’ and ‘Immigrants.’ These terms have been widely accepted, though also criticised for over a decade. It is more recently that the terms digital ‘Visitors’ and ‘Residents’ have challenged Prensky’s theory. This newer approach works in the same way by looking at individuals’ web usage, however; it does not categorise them according to age and background. Continue reading →

Is the distinction between digital “visitors” and “residents” as black and white as it seems?

Black and White – Polar Opposites. Via Pinterest: https://goo.gl/3S6Nby Black/white, male/female, young/old, we live in a world full of polar opposites. While it may seem a good starting point when discussing the differences between concepts, it can often create boundaries between people, resulting in prejudices and discrimination. This is certainly the case with Marc Prensky’s Digital “native” and “immigrant” dichotomy. Continue reading →

The Digital World is a Place, not a Language.

As a linguist, Prensky’s (2001) concept of ‘natives’ and ‘immigrants’ , used to explain the varying ways in which people use the web in the modern world, is a little jarring. He compares the difference between the internet generation (natives) and those who came to the internet later in life (immigrants) with native speakers of a language and those learning a foreign tongue. Continue reading →

Digital “Visitors” and Digital “Residents”

There are apparently two types of people who use the internet. There are so called digital “visitors” and digital “residents”, both names are quite self-explanatory but just in case you are unaware of what they mean here is an overall description and view of the people who go online today. As a 19-year-old I fit perfectly in the demographic which is the digital “resident” or “native”. Continue reading →

The Digital Age – Visitor or Resident?

Explain the concept of digital “visitors” and “residents” drawing upon your reading and your own online experiences to date in support of the points that you make. In 2001 Prensky suggested that students of today are born into a digital age where the norm is to have access to computers, smartphones and the internet; making them digital natives. Whereas, older generations have learned to adapt to technology, never becoming fluent in digital language as younger generations have. Continue reading →

Digital ‘Visitors’ and ‘Residents’

The concept of digital visitors and residents is one that I have previously not considered. As part of my research for this post I read a number of articles discussing living online and using the internet as a tool.  The model of visitors and residents draws from Mark Prensky’s (a writer and speaker on learning and speaking) model of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrant (2001) since heavily criticised as inaccurate and inflexible. Continue reading →