PLN Education Blog
My journey of learning digital literacy, establishing a personal learning network, and becoming a qualified 21st century teacher.
Watching Dr. White’s YouTube presentation on the Visitor and Resident theory really struck a cord. As I watched I saw him describe, almost to a t, what my relationship is like with the Internet. I can admit it, definitely a visitor. It was pretty clear as soon as he showed the words associated with the two types of people. Once he really started to describe what a resident does online, how they perceive the Internet, and ultimately their motivations, I was convinced that I am probably pretty close to the Visitor end of the spectrum. The adjectives then used to describe the Visitor, and the motivations involved with this type of person, were spot on descriptions of how I interact with the online world. It also explains why I am struggling a bit, pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. Of all the words used to describe a Visitor, I very much identified with private. I enjoy the fact that if someone were to Google my name, they are likely to find obituary after obituary. Being so public makes me feel very uncomfortable, but this could also be partially attributed to a generational gap. I have to be honest, when I was growing up the personal cell phone was a huge deal and practically no one had one (I mean have you seen the size of them?). But the video also made me reflect about how changing my attitude might help my students, a portion of whom undoubtedly are Residents. Part of my job is to reach my students, not for my students to reach me. So this doesn't mean than I need to jump head first and declare that I will do a 180 and become a Resident in the online world. What is does mean is that it might be time to start pushing myself towards the other end of the spectrum when it comes to my professional persona. With the website and Twitter I am making baby steps, and this video opened my eyes to the fact that I need to change my thinking in order to make these a successful platform for professional use. I can already tell, this is going to be an adventure. White, D. (2013, May 31). Visitors and residents. [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=0sFBadv04eY
7 Comments
Brad Rybarczyk
9/17/2016 07:32:29 pm
I think it's good that you see that you should have at least a bit of resident in your online self. I have similar concerns with you about my online presence. I still think that there is caution that should be taken with becoming more of a resident. I still want some privacy and don't think my students need to know about what my wife does or that my kid went to a park the other day.
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Margaret
9/18/2016 06:45:38 pm
You brought us such a good points, particularly with regards to your kid. It goes beyond trying to be a good teacher, you have other priorities you need to consider.
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I totally agree with you. I am a visitor as well. I love the fact that before these education technology classes when you googled my name, there might be one thing that would show up, usually my facebook, and when you looked at my facebook you would find that not only was it completely private, but that even if you found your way onto my network there is little to no personal information found. I also agree with the statement that you should be able to find your students, not that your students should be able to find you.
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Margaret
9/18/2016 06:48:36 pm
So glad to know that I am not the only one!
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Charles Morone
9/18/2016 08:22:51 pm
The advancement of technology is something that, I think, we havent taken true accounting of. When I was growing up the coolest cell phone you could get was one called "The Razor"... I think it was made by motorola. Compare that cell phone (~2005) to our phones today (2016) and it really shows how quickly things have changed.
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Maribel
9/18/2016 08:39:42 pm
Margaret, similarly to you I identified myself as a visitor, because I do not use the social space to share my opinions about education with others. On the other hand, I think despite of not publishing our work, we have contributed to education by sharing our lessons and ideas privately (through mail, digital documents, etc.) with other educators. I am also aware that I need to create and maintain a good digital presence, and my goal is to continue taking taking technology classes for educators in the future, in order to be always up to date.
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Holly Regan
9/23/2016 09:25:53 am
Hi,
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AuthorMy name is Margaret Sullivan, and I am a teacher candidate at California State University San Marcos, on my way to becoming a 21st century science teacher Archives
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