Digital Visitor and Resident

The Digital Visitor and Resident (V&R) model provides a framework to depict how user preference and habit motivates engagement with technology and the web. V&R is commonly described as a continuum, with two modes of online engagement at either end, making a separation between different approaches to engagement. People operating in Visitor mode have a defined goal or task, and select an appropriate online tool to meet their needs as they arise. For example, using a smartphone to search the internet for directions to a local bookstore, thus finding a particular piece of information online and then going offline to complete the task. There will be little in terms of social visibility or trace when online in Visitor mode. People operating in Resident mode are online to connect to, or to be with, other people. For example, posting to the wall in Facebook, tweeting, blogging, or posting comments on blogs. The web supports the projection of their identity and facilitates relationships. In other words, Residents live a percentage of their lives online. Unlike the Visitor mode, there will be online visibility and presence when in Resident mode. It is very common for individuals to engage online in a mixture of Visitor and Resident modes depending on what they are trying to achieve.

Marc Prensky's notions of digital natives and digital immigrants has had a lasting influence on how educational institutions perceive students and technology. However, Prensky's model has been challenged by other researchers who have debated its parameters. One of these new models is the V&R project. It contrasts with Presky's digital native in that it rejects hard divisions based on the age of the user, and instead focuses on the user's desired level of engagement.

The Visitor-Resident continuum illustrates the range of possible modes of engagement individuals now have available to them through the web. The corresponding Digital Visitors and Residents mapping is a tool used by educators and librarians for exploring how their institutional users are engaging with the services they provide. By having students or users map their activity, they can create a picture of their overall engagement. Mapping also can be used to gain a picture of the overall digital presence of a group or department when bringing together and overlaying multiple maps.

The V&R project explored learners' motivations behind different types of engagement with the digital environment, when seeking information. The investigation focused on the sources learners turn to in order to gather information, and which on- and off-line spaces they choose to interact in as part of the learning process. The study used the Digital Visitors and Residents framework to map learners' modes of engagement in both personal and institutional contexts. The project assessed whether individual approaches shift according to the learners' educational stage or whether they develop practices/literacies in early stages that remain largely unchanged as they progress through their educational career. Learners from both the United Kingdom and the United States participated in the project.

...
Wikipedia