For myself, I am very tech-saavy but I am definitely closer to the visitor side of the continuum. I have accounts on facebook, instagram, and twitter but mostly use them to peruse what other people post and to keep up on current events. I rarely comment or engage with many people outside my friend group. I upload pictures, but my profiles are all private and only people I allow can see my page. I use google drive regularly in my classroom and share/edit/comment with my students on their work but it is within a closed system and I do not post anything publicly to the web. While I have a classroom website that is open to the public, I do not use it to engage with others. My website is a place for me to share information or certain websites with my students.
Visitors are described as “unlikely to take advantage of any feed based system for aggregated information you may put in place. They are also unlikely to blog or comment as part of a course” (“Not ‘Natives’ & ‘Immigrants’ but ‘Visitors’ & ‘Residents’”, 2008). This describes my method of learning. I am not as comfortable posting questions on a blog or networking site to find answers. I am more comfortable looking up credible sources and attempting to find answers through them. As a learner, I am far more comfortable gathering information that I need from the internet, synthesizing it, and producing a product that will only be for my professors to read. The thought of posting my thoughts and comments publicly is difficult for me, but I can see the value in it.
I know being a visitor and not over the age of 30 is maybe unusual but White explains that it has little to do with technological skill level or age. I am an example of this because I am good with technology and enjoy using it, but do not necessarily have an online presence. White states that most people over the age of 55 are visitors, but not always, and not everyone under the age of 25 is a resident (“Not ‘Natives’ & ‘Immigrants’ but ‘Visitors’ & ‘Residents’”, 2008).
This master’s program will definitely challenge my way of learning and engaging with the internet. I will no longer be able to go online, accomplish a specific task and log off without leaving a trace. I will have to maintain my identity through my weebly website and comment and post on my peer’s blogs as well. This will allow me to move towards the resident end of the continuum.
Resources
Visitors and Residents [Video file]. (2013, May 31). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sFBadv04eY
White, D. (2008, July 23). Not ‘Natives’ & ‘Immigrants’ but ‘Visitors’ & ‘Residents’”.
[Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://tallblog.conted.ox.ac.uk/index.php/2008/07/23/not-natives-immigrants-but-visitors-residents/