There is a saying in the English language that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. A saying is meant to express a generally accepted truth. But transposed to a digital context, it is worth reflecting on whether this ‘truth’ really stands unassailable. Does it categorically mean that our age, or the fact that we grew up in an in environment of lesser (or even devoid of) digital tools and interaction, will determine our digital skills and competencies? That for some it will be the proverbial bag of tricks too difficult to ever master?

David Whyte of the University of Oxford attempts to answer this question in an insightful talk entitled “Visitors and Residents.” In the talk he reflects on the factors that contribute to successful digital participation, and contrary to the expectation (or previous theories) that it mainly age dependent or conditional upon technological skills, offers an alternative theory, namely that it depends on our motivation to engage.

Visitors, he says, view the web as a collection of tools and use the tools to get things done, such as for example going online and paying a bill. After their interaction there is little trace of them left online. By contrast, residents do leave a social trace, they go online and actively share or even “live out a portion of their life online” as he puts it. The context (whether it for social or professional purpose) and our personalities will determine to which extent we are visitors or residents. The two categories should however be seen on a continuum so that there are varying degrees of being visitors and residents.

But a factor that can greatly influence one’s motivation to engage is fear. Particularly in the context of this starting phases of the ONL course, one of the words that was most often mentioned in course entries and our initial group conversations was fear. In the PBL scenario we were provided with for Topic 1, the exact emotions many of us were experiencing – “feels really challenging”; “feels a bit scary” were articulated and seemed reassuringly familiar. Fear seem to be the beast in the corner of our digital engagement.

That is however not to downplay our fears as baseless or unrealistic. In a Poll we conducted amongst the course attendees, the three fears/discomforts experienced in the digital environment that had the highest ranking amongst those who answered, were

• the sharing of personal details,
• privacy intrusion by others,
• and the use of technology in relation to different tools, devices and platforms.

These fears all appear to be quite valid and reasonable concerns. And all too realistic as at the same time we were conducting our poll, news broke that Google would be closing down its social platform (Google +) as a public tool, reportedly in part to be attributed to an earlier data privacy breach.

The webinar hosted by Sara Mörtsell, Education Manager at Wikimedia was therefore quite useful as it  addressed some of these concerns. It offered practical guidance for online engagement with a particular focus on using the internet and resources responsibly so as not to encroach on other’s rights; and managing our own digital identity.

Subsequent to her talk, whilst travelling home from a conference, a quote from Dr Seuss in the in-flight magazine, caught my eye, “If you want to catch beasts you don’t see every day, you have to go places quite out of the way. You have to go places no others can get to. You have to get cold and you have to get wet too.” Perhaps a bit clichéd, but it did strike a chord.  It made me reflect that possibly participating in the digital space is not that much different from other aspects we fear in life and it offered apt guidance: if we really want to confront our fears, we can only do so by leaving our familiar spaces; that we will need to experience and participate, even if it means it is sometimes wet and cold, and not at all that comfortable.

The ONL course has thus far challenged me to move out of mainly visitor abode, and even if uncomfortable at times, it has been a great experience. However I’m fortunate that unlike the quote, in respect of the places we will go, I am joined by a wonderful group, so that I am already looking forward to the next adventure.

This blog is part of a series written as participant of the ONL 181 course.