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Topic 1 2015, Page 3

Topic 1: Digital Residents and Visitors

Before the mid 80’s, access to computers, related technology and the media was limited to TV, radio, film and print. Since then, there has been continuous access to new technologies, which have expanded an individual’s access to the world. According to McLuhan (1964), “the globe has been contracted into a village by electric technology and an instantaneous movement of information”. Continue reading →

Topic 1

Topic 1: “Digital Residents” and “Digital Immigrants” Question: 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. Let’s start by outlining who a “digital resident” and “digital visitor” is. By breaking down these terms, by definition, a resident is someone who permanently lives in a particular place. Continue reading →

Topic 1: ‘Digital Residents’ and ‘Digital Visitors’

Prensky’s (2001) work on digital natives and digital immigrants was very influential at the time but over a decade later it has been heavily critiqued due to its simplistic nature; ill-fitting metaphors and its tendency to rely heavily on age to determine ability. Even Prensky himself has critiqued the validity of the debate in today’s online world. As a result the digital resident and visitor concept was introduced to understand the complex nature of how we use with the web. Continue reading →

Was I born online?

Figure 1 A digital native is someone that is just one amongst the Net Generation. This is the younger age group that have been born into the digital era and, therefore, their inherent ‘tech-savvy-ness’ allows them to thoroughly know how to utilise all corners of the Internet to fully immerse their ‘real life’ selves into a social and professional pixilated format (Bennett, Maton & Kervin, 2008). Continue reading →

Digital Visitors and Residents: A review of current and past terminologies

With the internet providing myriad new ways to spread information, advertisement and services, both corporations and individuals should attempt to understand how users of the web can be categorized and therefore catered to individually, to provide the best experience to the widest demographic of web-users possible. In trying to initially approach categorization for how people approach using the web, Marc Prensky in 2001 first made use of the terms Digital “Natives” and “Immigrants”. Continue reading →

Topic 1: ‘Digital Visitors’ and ‘Digital Residents’

Prensky’s research into ‘Digital Natives’ and Digital Immigrants’ was very influential at the time. Using this terminology, he suggested that technology plays an integral role in young people’s lives – “native speakers of the digital language” (Prensky, 2001). Contrastingly, older individuals have their foot in the past, attempting to adapt to the digital environment that surrounds them. Continue reading →

TOPIC 1: “Digital Residents” and “Digital Immigrants”

(from http://www.quickhr.biz/category/digital/) As social media is becoming more and more prevalent, the previous “digital natives” and “digital immigrants” distinction suggested by Prensky (2001) is needed to be reconsider since the use of Internet has changed. In the past, Internet was primarily used for information gathering or finding information, but now, social-networking also came into place. Digital “natives” and “immigrants” are distinguished by age and generation. Continue reading →

Web Users: Immigrants and Natives or Visitors and Residents?

Prensky’s concept of ‘Natives’ and ‘Immigrants’ on the surface appeared to make absolute sense to me. I considered my 80 year-old grandma’s struggle to send an email, compared with my 13 year-old sister and her seemingly instinctive knowledge of laptops and iPhones. My younger sister engrossed in her digital world on social media Indeed, one can easily claim that younger people have a sort of inherent confidence with technology. Continue reading →

Topic 1: Digital visitors and residents

Technology as a whole and mainly Internet users cannot be categorised by age or generations, because people of any age use technology in different ways. However visitors and residents are indeed best for categorising the web users (David S). As the name suggests visitors are people who come to visit, and every web visit have a purpose. Therefore I can say that visitors are using the web as an instrument for their every day life needs. Continue reading →