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2017, Page 18

Topic 1: Visitors and Residents

Digital ‘Visitors’ and ‘Residents’ is a theory proposed by Prensky (2001) that defined users on the web. Prensky suggested that ‘Visitors’ were simply using the internet for specific tasks, whereas ‘Residents’ were predominantly younger web users who used several different online platforms such as social media websites to create an online presence. Continue reading →

Topic 1: Digital Residents and Digital Visitors

Prensky (2001) created the concepts of digital natives and digital immigrants in order to understand and explain the variations of digital engagement between different generations. Digital natives is used to describe the younger generation that feel more comfortable with the digital world compared to the older generation (digital immigrants) who use it less frequently and generally struggle to keep up with the constantly developing digital world. Continue reading →

Web users: Digital Visitors and Residents ? My own experience

What is the difference between  digital visitors and residents? The main distinction that should be remembered is that it involves the level of engagement a person has with the virtual world. In simple terms, visitors have low levels of engagement meaning that they do not wish to express themselves in the online culture, whereas residents seek out to voice their opinion, by sharing and commenting their thoughts while being active online. Continue reading →

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

Before understanding and evaluating the concept of ‘Digital Residents’ and ‘Digital Visitors’, we must first explore the proposed concept of ‘Digital Natives’ and ‘Digital Immigrants’. Prensky (2001) suggests users of the web can be sorted into 2 categories. ‘Digital Natives’, are those who are native speakers of the digital language. They have been born in a digital era and thus use this as their primary language, enabling them to access and use the internet efficiently. Continue reading →

‘digital residents’ & ‘digital visitors’: what’s your online approach?

Digital ‘residents’ and ‘visitors’ form a metaphor for people’s engagement with online technology. Residents live a part of their life online. They use the Web for work, study and recreation; they are comfortable expressing themselves and their opinions in online communities and maintain a digital identity through social networking sites (White, 2008). Visitors are those who use the Web more sparingly and selectively. Continue reading →

Topic 1: Digital Visitors and Residents

The concept of digital “natives” and “immigrants” was coined by Marc Prensky (2001) to criticise the American education system as being outdated and had failed to understand the needs of students in the modern, digital age. Prensky referred to children and young individuals whom were born and raised within a technologically rich environment as “digital natives”, those who are socialised to process and utilise technology efficiently from a young age. Continue reading →

Digital Visitors vs Digital Residents: Where do you fit in?

There is no doubt that we now live in such an increasingly digital driven age where the consumption of technology has grown over time. As such, Prensky (2001), initially proposed the theory that there were two different types of digital users; natives and immigrants. Natives vs Immigrants Digital Natives represent those who grew up with technology and naturally use it with ease, suggesting they are competent digital users. Continue reading →

Out with the old, in with the new

The concept of digital “visitors” and “residents” offers a new way of interpreting how people participate in the digital world, providing a replacement for Prensky’s seemingly out-dated and heavily criticised notion of digital “natives” and “immigrants” (White and Le Cornu, 2011). According to Prensky “today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently from their predecessors” (Prensky, 2001, p. Continue reading →

Life as a Digital Resident

According to OCLC (n.d.) there are two forms in which individuals engage with the Internet: a digital resident or a digital visitor. A digital resident refers to a user whose engagement on the Internet leaves persistent social traces. Whereas a digital visitor is anonymous in their use and leaves behind no social trace apart from such things as their Internet Service Provider’s connection information. Continue reading →

Topic 1: Digital Residents and Visitors – what does it all mean?

The idea of digital residents and visitors was first proposed by Prensky (2001) in an attempt to understand the distinction arising with the lifestyles of new generations, ones growing up with no prior recollection of life before digital technologies, compared with that of older generations who learnt these skills already a fully developed adult. Figure 1: Digital Immigrants vs. Continue reading →

Why digital visitors and residents still misses the point

Digital residents surfing the net. Internet (A First Discovery Book), Scholastic The terms digital visitor and digital resident have been used to describe engagement in a digital environment [1],[2]. However, the power of this model is misunderstood leading to a wasted potential. The idea of digital residents and visitors stems from the work of Prensky [3] with the concept of the digital native and immigrant. Continue reading →

Topic 1: Digital ‘Residents’ & ‘Visitors’

It is safe to say that digital technology is an irreplaceable aspect of modern life. However, despite this fact, there is a clear distinction between those who live a large aspect of their lives online and those who only use technology or the web as an access point for information. Prensky (2001) defined these two categories as digital ‘natives’, the innate experts in technology and digital ‘immigrants’, who are foreign to the world of technology. Continue reading →

Topic 1- Digital Visitors and Residents

The web is a revolutionary tool that has a profound impact on everyone’s daily lives in the 21st Century. From working to socialising, everyone has different wants and requirements out of the web. As a result, there are different competency levels, skill-sets and levels of confidence associated with being present digitally. There really is a stigma of getting left behind if you’re not online in modern society. Continue reading →

Digital “visitors” and digital “residents” – who are they?

When looking to understand user engagement with technology, Prensky (2001) coined the term digital “native” – a young person who has been immersed in technology since birth. Here, activities on the web are done almost without thinking, in the same way one may respond in an oral conversation owing to the way language is learnt as a child.  Contrastingly, a digital “Immigrant” is someone who has adapted to using the web in later life. Continue reading →

Digital “visitors” and digital “residents” – who are they?

When looking to understand user engagement with technology, Prensky (2001) coined the term digital “native” – a young person who has been immersed in technology since birth. Here, activities on the web are done almost without thinking, in the same way one may respond in an oral conversation owing to the way language is learnt as a child.  Contrastingly, a digital “Immigrant” is someone who has adapted to using the web in later life. Continue reading →

Topic 1: Digital Visitors & Residents

Natives vs. Immigrants In 2001, Prensky proposed a distinction between two types of online users: ‘digital natives’ and ‘digital immigrants’. Prensky’s theory can be summarised as follows: Digital natives: The younger generation that have grown up with technology and are therefore competent digital users. Digital immigrants: The older generation that have not been exposed to technology from a young age, so are required to adapt to the changing digital environment. Continue reading →