Prensky’s theory
Prensky’s theory classifies individuals as digital natives and digital immigrants. Digital natives are defined as young people who are experts at using technology due to growing up in the digital world; whereas, a digital immigrant is defined as an older person who struggles with modern technology. This theory purely classifies people in terms of their age and background and does not consider other determining factors of an individual’s technological expertise. Therefore, this theory has been extremely criticised and is rapidly being replaced with the concept of classifying individuals as ‘digital residents’ and ‘digital visitors’.
Digital residents and digital visitors theory
The more modern theory of digital residents and digital visitors has been developed on how people behave when using technology in terms of motivation and content. A digital resident is a name given to someone who lives a portion of their life online, constantly developing their identity and creating and maintaining relationships.
A digital visitor, however, takes a more structured approach to technology. These individuals will specify a time to go online, perform their necessary task then log off. They do not feel the need to express themselves online, unlike a digital resident. An example of a task a digital visitor will carry out is to book a holiday, an organised and focused use of technology. These classifications are only the extremes of this theory, an individual can lie anywhere on a spectrum between a digital visitor and a digital resident.
My own experience
From my own experiences of growing up with technology and comparing this to how my grandparents and even my parents use technology I can see how Prensky created the theory of digital natives and residents. I definitely agree to some extent that people’s age and background has an impact on how an individual interacts with technology. Especially from my experiences of repeatedly explaining to my Nan how to even open a text message, there is a clear correlation between a person’s generation and their technological knowhow.
Nevertheless, the new theory of digital visitors and residents is much more in keeping with new generations and how we use technology. How people use technology is no longer defined just by age and generation, as there are now different levels of expertise amongst all age groups. I believe I am more towards being a digital resident than a digital visitor as I spend a vast amount of time online creating an online persona and maintaining many friendships.
References:
White, D. S., & Cornu, A. L. (2011). Visitors and Residents: A new typology for online engagement. First Monday, Volume 16, Number 9 – 5 September 2011
White, D., Silipigni Connaway, L., Lanclos, D., Hood, E. & Vass, C. (2014). Evaluating digital services . JISC, the University of Oxford, OCLC research and the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
Alice Brown 
Hi Alice, I really liked your chronological order approach. It made a lot of sense to write about one theory transitioning into another and then summarised it with your won experience.
I also really liked the way you compared the differences in digital tools use amongst different generations, as I believe that tis is one of key factors that will put you wither into the ‘Residents’ or ‘Visitors’ bracket.
The blog was very easy to read, as great, readable language is used and your train of thought is organised and clear for readers.
Perhaps, you could expand a little on your own opinion on the matter, not only using your experiences at home, but evaluating your ideas using some extra sources and articles on the subject.
Apart from that, I think this is a great post. Carry on using your own examples in your work, as it makes it very engaging for readers.
LikeLike