I think this is a question that we should be asking ourselves – a couple of weeks ago I asked via twitter the following question “opinion please … can a tchr show/teach impact & innovation in ICT if it’s not an integral part of their life?”

Talking to a teacher who is taking a lead role in ICT at school this year about the definition of visitor vs resident she quickly said she was a visitor. (Logs in, does what she has to do and logs out.)

In the debates about computers, internet, ICT integration – how can a visitor understand the POV of a resident? Can they understand it?

I don’t know. I can’t approach it from the visitor perspective as I am a resident.

As are my two children (18 & 21). Computers, computing, internet, & other ICTs are all part of our lives – daily. My daughter is on Twitter (@spacegirlnz) and we talk to each other sometimes that way instead of texting (from our respective offices/desks in the house); my daughter decided she wanted to be able to do 2 things at once while studying for her uni exams – so she snagged our old PC monitor (which was attached to our storage computer!) and figured out how to attach it to her laptop and do the dual screen thing – now she can study and watch a movie, or study and chat with friends, or do some photoshop stuff and watch a movie … or whatever! We have 4 laptops and 1 PC between the 3 of us! Along with 2 smartphones (Nokia 6121s) and 1 other wireless device (iTouch) we’re all connected both online and offline. We’re residents. (Back in the day when we had an old 8088/80286/80386 both kids could execute typed dos commands to get to their games without adult help) (And this connectedness doesn’t mean we don’t do other stuff – we cycle together, sit around the house reading books together, go walking together, cook together – it’s just we’re also wired/wireless together as well)

So – visitor or resident?

A question I hear very often is “how can they be friends if they’ve never met in real life?” totally misses the point that the definition of “real life” has changed.

Are my online collegial relationships via Twitter less than those in person? I don’t think so. They’re different – we talk about different things – and sure there’s not a lot of classroom visiting happening – but there is a lot of talk – professional talk – and in fact I would say I’ve had more professional talk with some Twitter colleagues than I’ve had with colleagues here – because I have more in common with my online ones.

What about all the professional development that goes on via blogs? Is that less than “real life” professional development? As far as I’m concerned I learn more online than in “real life”. Where then is my “real life”?

I think my real life is everything that’s a part of me – online, offline where-ever!