{"id":476,"date":"2016-05-12T14:23:24","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T14:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/?p=476"},"modified":"2020-05-18T18:05:53","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T18:05:53","slug":"mapping-the-role-technology-plays-in-your-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.oclc.org\/next\/mapping-the-role-technology-plays-in-your-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping the role technology plays in your life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2016-05-12<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you ever wonder about the role that technology plays in your life and what services and apps you use? OCLC began collaborating on the Digital Visitors and Residents<\/a> (V&R) project with funding from Jisc<\/a>\u00a0(a digital education services non-profit)\u00a0in 2011 to investigate how US and UK individuals engage with technology and how this engagement may or may not change as the individuals transition through their educational stages (White and Connaway 2011-2014). Since that time we have broadened the research to include interviews with individuals in Spain and Italy to include a comparative analysis to identify any geographical or cultural differences. The OCLC team also has conducted an online survey with approximately 150 high school, undergraduate and graduate students and college and university faculty. We hope to have these data analyzed so that we are able to share our findings.<\/p>\n

We also began conducting mapping sessions with students, librarians, and faculty using the Visitors and Residents framework and differentiating between engagement in professional\/academic and personal contexts and situations. Participation in the mapping exercise is a way for individuals to become aware of how they work, play, and interact with others in a digital environment. If the maps are shared with others, it can help individuals better understand why communication seems to work well with some, but not with others.<\/p>\n

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Pen-and-paper proof-of-concept<\/h2>\n

These mapping sessions were conducted using paper and pencil or pen. Examples of these maps are included in the EDUCAUSE Review paper, \u201cI always stick with the first thing that comes up on Google\u2026\u201d Where People Go for Information, What They Use, and Why<\/a>,” (Connaway, Lanclos, and Hood 2013). In order to collect and analyze these handwritten maps we had to ask the creators of the maps to take photos of them and to email them to us.<\/p>\n

After much discussion with my colleague, William Harvey, PhD, OCLC Consulting Engineer<\/a>, he developed an app that can be used on most smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. William co-led the usability testing of the app with Mike Prasse, OCLC Lead User Experience Researcher. High school, undergraduate, and graduate students, faculty, and librarians used the app on different devices and provided feedback on what was fun, what worked, and what functionalities they thought we should add.<\/p>\n

Based on their feedback, the app was enhanced and now is available at oc.lc\/VRmap<\/a><\/strong>, with comic book instructions.<\/p>\n

A video also was created by Carey Champoux, OCLC Video Content Manager, and Andy Havens, OCLC Content Marketing Manager, to explain how to use the V&R mapping app.<\/p>\n