This project is exploring what motivates different types of engagement with the digital environment for learning. The investigation focuses on the sources learners turn to in order to gather information, and which medium they choose as part of the learning process. The project will assess whether this shifts according to the learners’ educational stage or if they develop practices in the early learning stages that remain largely unchanged as they progress into other learning stages. Learners from both the UK and the US are participating in the project, which will enable the researchers to explore potential cultural differences between the two countries.

Visitors and Residents: What Motivates Engagement with the Digital Information Environment?

Building on research of individuals’ types of engagement with electronic technologies (Visitors and Residents), and the JISC-funded Digital Information Seeker report, this project is exploring what motivates different types of engagement with the digital environment for learning.

The investigation focuses on the sources learners turn to in order to gather information, and which medium they choose as part of the learning process. The project will assess whether this shifts according to the learners’ educational stage or if they develop practices in the early learning stages that remain largely unchanged as they progress into other learning stages. Learners from both the UK and the US are participating in the project, which will enable the researchers to explore potential cultural differences between the two countries.

An initial 6-month pilot phase will evolve into a three-year longitudinal study.The full project will investigate the four educational-stages from school level to early career researcher.

This project is a collaboration between JISC, the University of Oxford, and OCLC, and a partnership with the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

Objectives

  • The researchers plan to develop a high level matrix of how learners engage online at different educational stages.
  • The project will address the ‘Digital Natives’ theory, which currently is being challenged, and the need for a new understanding of how learners seek information online.
  • The researchers will disaggregate the use of particular platforms and technologies from underlying motivations and learning strategies.

Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes


Ultimately the project will produce a matrix of preferred methods of engagement at each educational stage and discuss the motivations behind learners’ choices at each of these stages. This will be supported by a substantial body of data and analysis which can be accessed by those wishing to explore the detail underpinning the model.

At its highest level the model will be a refining of the Visitors & Residents principle, acting as a catalyst for reflection and discussion for those who have not yet considered their service provision in the context of motivation rather than functionality.

The outputs from the project will inform those running or planning digital services how to most closely meet the expectations of the learners they are seeking to support. It also will highlight the most effective modes of communication at each educational stage.

Project managers:

  • Dr. Lynn Silipigni Connaway, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Research, 6565 Kilgour Place, Dublin, Ohio, USA. Tel:001-303-246-3623; email: connawal@oclc.org

Project Team:

  • Dr Alison Le Cornu, c/o TALL, Department for Continuing Education, Oxford University. Tel: 01865 427569; email: alison.lecornu@ntlworld.com
  • Dr Donna Lanclos, UNC, Charlotte, J. Murrey Atkins Library, Associate Professor of Anthropological Research, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA. Tel: 001-(704) 687-2060; email: dlanclos@uncc.edu


Project Staff

Ben Showers  Programme Manager, Digital Infrastructure

Email b.showers@jisc.ac.uk

Telephone +44 (0) 203 006 6015

Mobile +44 (0) 7891 470 735

Fax +44 (0) 207 240 5377

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