The document discusses a research project focused on understanding digital literacy among students, emphasizing different information-seeking behaviors and the roles of 'visitors' and 'residents' in the digital landscape. It includes participant demographics, methodology, and reflections on the convenience of information access, as well as the critical evaluation of sources. Findings suggest that even confident users often lack necessary evaluative skills in navigating digital information.

1. DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION
TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED LIFELONG LEARNING
Digital Visitors and Residents:
Project Feedback
Developing Digital Literacies - #jiscdiglit
Visitors & Residents - #vandr
David White (Co-PI) Dr. Lynn Silipigni Connaway (Co-PI)
@daveowhite OCLC Research
University of Oxford
Dr. Alison Le Cornu Dr. Donna Lancllos
University of Oxford University of North Carolina, Charlotte
9th December 2011

2. Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D. David White (@daveowhite)
Senior Research Scientist Co-Manager Technology Assisted
OCLC Research Lifelong Learning
University of Oxford
Donna Lanclos, Ph.D. Alison Le Cornu, Ph.D.
Associate Professor for Research assistant
Anthropological Research Technology Assisted Lifelong
University of North Carolina, Learning
Charlotte University of Oxford

3. ‘I just type it
into Google
and see what
comes up.’
(UKS2)

4. ‘I always stick with the
first thing that comes
up on Google because
I think that’s the most
popular site which
means that’s the most
correct.’
(USS1)

5. ‘I knew that the
internet wouldn’t give
me a wrong answer.’
(UKS4)

6. Background
•The Digital Information Seeker: Report – Connaway, et al.
2010
•Thriving in the 21st Century: Learning Literacies for the Digital
Age (LLiDA Project) – Beetham. et al. 2009
•Not ‘Natives’ & ‘Immigrants’ but ‘Visitors’ & ‘Residents’ (blog
post) – White. 2008
•Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future –
Nicholas. et al. 2008
•‘If it is too inconvenient I’m not going after it:’ Convenience
as a Critical Factor in Information-seeking Behaviors.” –
Connaway, et al. 2011

7. Even confident
internet users often
lack evaluative
and critical skills.
LLiDA project: http://www.academy.gcal.ac.uk/llida/

8. DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION
TECHNOLOGY-ASSISTED LIFELONG LEARNING
Digital
Visitor
Digital
Resident

9. Visitor Resident
Video: goo.gl/dny1h
Paper: goo.gl/RFSLz

10. Visitor Resident
Unseen Visible
Instrumental Networked
Functional Communicative
Individual Communal

12. Phase 2: Months 7-12
Establishing, Embedding, and Experienced
Add 15 to original 30 = 45 participants
Phase 3: Months 13-24
Track 24 participants
Online survey of 400 students and scholars
Phase 4: Months 25-36
Emerging
6 students
Page 12

13. Phase 1 participant
demographics
• 30 participants
• 19 females, 11 males
• 21Caucasian, 3 African-American, 1 Caucasian-
Thai, 1 Hispanic, 4 unidentified
• 15 secondary students
• 15 university students

14. Methodology:
•Interviews
•Diaries
•Survey
•Mapping

15. Interview Questions
1. Describe the things you enjoy doing with
technology and the web each week.
--------
6. If you had a magic wand, what would your
ideal way of getting information be? How would
you go about using the systems and services?
When? Where? How?

16. Code book
I. Place
II. Sources
III. Tools
IV. Agency
V. Situation/context
VI. Quotes
VII. Contact
VIII. Technology Ownership
IX. Network used

17. Code book
IV. Agency
A. Evaluation
B. Decision/Choice
1. Convenience
2. Familiarity
3. Repetition
4. Relevance
5. Authority/Legitimacy
6. Available time
Etc.

18. Engagement Maps
Personal
Visitor Resident
Institutional

19. UKU3

20. USS4

21. USU3

22. Programmatically?
• Map the Code book to the
Visitors and Residents
continuum
• Compare the mappings
between
Educational stages

23. Questions?

24. Information-seeking cycle

25. ‘I simply just
type it into
Google and
just see what
comes up’
(UKS4)

26. Sources

27. UKU3
?

28. Contact

29. Email vs IM
‘My email is also like the most
important way of contacting
people, especially through
the school...’
(USU7 )

30. The power
of convenience

31. Agency

32. Convergence
“Google doesn’t judge me” (UKF3)

33. People

34. ‘Oh, definitely one of my teachers just
being able to appear, definitely. Just to
be able to have maybe a professor or
someone that is an expert in that area,
and just for them to be there when I
want them to, so that if I don’t get
something they can explain it to me.
Because that’s the other thing, it’s more
verbal communication that I find easier,
so not always the website, although I do
usually use the internet it’s not my
preferred choice.’
(UKS4)

35. Questions?

36. Open Answer Resources

37. Do you think education is
about the 'answers'
themselves or the process of
getting to those answers?
A: Answers
B: The process of getting to
those answers.

38. Sources

39. ‘Freely available tertiary
literature, accessibly and
neutrally summarised from
reliable secondary and
primary sources, in an
ongoing process of good
faith collaboration
involving both experts
and non-experts.’
(Martin Poulter of Wikimedia)

40. ‘The problem with
Wikipedia is it’s too
easy. You can go to
Wikipedia, you can get
an answer, you don’t
actually learn anything,
you just get an answer.’
(USU6 – quoting a teacher)

41. ‘Perfect thing, I think it
would be that all the
useful, accurate, reliable
information would like glow
a different colour or
something so I could tell
without wasting my time
going through all of them’
(UKS2)

42. Education is
about questions
The web is
about answers

43. ‘Do they actually fail you?’
‘They don’t fail you but you
get ridiculed in front of
everyone for sourcing
Wikipedia.’
(USS3)

44. Learning
Black
Market
http://wp.me/pLtlj-fH

45. Phase 3 (Mar 2012 – Mar 2013)
•Survey
•Diaries
•Phase 2 coding
•Triangulation

46. Outputs – January 2012
•Report
•Engagement maps
•Emerging findings
•Implications
•Video
•Project discussion

47. Thanks
Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D. David White (@daveowhite)
Senior Research Scientist Co-Manager Technology Assisted
OCLC Research Lifelong Learning
University of Oxford
connawal@oclc.org david.white@conted.ox.ac.uk

48. Selected Readings
Beetham, Helen, Lou McGill, and Allison Littlejohn. Thriving in the 21st
Century: Learning Literacies for the Digital Age (LLiDA Project).
Glasgow: The Caledonian Academy, Glasgow Caledonian
University, 2009.
http://www.academy.gcal.ac.uk/llida/LLiDAReportJune2009.pdf.
Connaway, Lynn Silipigni, and Timothy J. Dickey. The Digital
Information Seeker: Report of the Findings from Selected OCLC,
RIN, and JISC User Behaviour Projects. 2010.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/reports/2010
/digitalinformationseekerreport.pdf.
Connaway, Lynn Silipigni, Timothy J. Dickey, and Marie L. Radford. “‘If
it is too inconvenient I’m not going after it:’ Convenience as a
Critical Factor in Information-seeking Behaviors.” Library &
Information Science Research 33, no. 3 (2011): 179-90.

49. Selected Readings
Nicholas, David. Rowlands, Ian. Huntingdon, Paul. Information
Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future: A CIBER Briefing
Paper. London: CIBER, 2008.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/reppres/
gg_final_keynote_11012008.pdf.
White, Dave. “Not ‘Natives’ & ‘Immigrants’ but ‘Visitors’ &
‘Residents.’” Posted on TALL Blog, July 23, 2008.
http://tallblog.conted.ox.ac.uk/index.php/2008/07/23/not-
natives-immigrants-but-visitors-residents/.
White, David. Le Cornu, Alison. “Visitors and Residents: A New
Typology for Online Engagement.” First Monday 16, no. 9 (2011).
http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/articl
e/viewArticle/3171/3049.

50. Picture credits
Exam room: zeligfilm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeligdoc/4536875415/
Vending machines: midoisyu
http://www.flickr.com/photos/midorisyu/752223850/
Cycle route: Damian Cugley
http://www.flickr.com/photos/midorisyu/752223850/
Glasses face: peterburnham
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pburnham/5238764188/
3 Generations (Street at night): Gilderic
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lanier67/5253473681
Porto Riberia: lanier67 http://www.flickr.com/photos/lanier67/5253473681