This link has been bookmarked by 149 people . It was first bookmarked on 01 Nov 2008, by Angela Stockman.
Melissa Pierce on 2009-12-17
I'd like to encourage this type of learning in my classroom: don't be afraid to make mistakes, just learn as you go. I think there's just as much we can learn from how these students learn to use these tools as we can try and learn to "steer the bus" for them.
Giving Students Ownership of Learning Pages 16-19
Footprints in the Digital Age
Will Richardson
In the Web 2.0 world, self-directed learners must be adept at building and sustaining networks.
21stcenturylearning 21stcenturyskills digitalcitizenship digitalfootprint reading
November 2008
November 2008 | Volume 66 | Number 3
Giving Students Ownership of Learning
Pages 16-19
Footprints in the Digital Age
Will Richardson
In the Web 2.0 world, self-directed learners must be adept at building and sustaining networks.
<script src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js" language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"></script>As the geeky father of a 9-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, one of my worst fears as they grow older is that they won't be Googled well. Not that they won't be able to use Google well, mind you, but that when a certain someone (read: admissions officer, employer, potential mate) enters "Tess Richardson" into the search line of the browser, what comes up will be less than impressive. That a quick surf through the top five hits will fail to astound with examples of her creativity, collaborative skills, and change-the-world work. Or, even worse, that no links about her will come up at all. I mean, what might "Your search did not match any documents" imply?
It's a consequence of the new Web 2.0 world that these digital footprints—the online portfolios of who we are, what we do, and by association, what we know—are becoming increasingly woven into the fabric of almost every aspect of our lives. In all likelihood, you, your school, your teachers, or your students are already being Googled on a regular basis, with information surfacing from news articles, blog posts, YouTube videos, Flickr photos, and Facebook groups. Some of it may be good, some may be bad, and most is beyond your control. Your personal footprint—and to some extent your school's—is most likely being written without you, thanks to the billions of us worldwide who now have our own printing presses and can publish what we want when we want to.
On the surface, that's an unsettling thought—but it doesn't have to be. In fact, if we are willing to embrace the moment rather than recoil from it, we may find opportunities to empower students to learn deeply and continually in ways that we could scarcely have imagined just a decade ago.
Whether we like it or not, social Web technologies are having a huge influence on students who are lucky enough to be connected, even the youngest ones. Many 7- and 8-year-olds are busy exploring Club Penguin or Webkinz with other 7- and 8-year-olds half a world away, middle schoolers are connecting with global warriors in World of Warcraft, and adolescents preen themselves in front of their "friends" on MySpace and Facebook. A recent National School Boards Association survey (2007) announced that upward of 80 percent of young people who are online are networking and that 70 percent of them are regularly discussing education-related topics. They're creating all sorts of content—some, as we all know, doing so very badly—and they're doing all sorts of things with online tools that, for the most part, we're not teaching them anything about. In the process, they're becoming Googleable without us. By and large, they do all this creating, publishing, and learning on their own, outside school, because when they enter the classroom, they typically "turn off the lights" (Prensky, 2008).
This may be the first large technological shift in history that's being driven by children.
Jeremy Duncan on 2009-11-18
This is a crucial skill. It is easy to get caught up in the network that you build and neglect the relationships around you. We need to learn to balance our time well, so that we can teach our children and students to do the same. We only have so many hours in the day, which relationships are the most important to invest our time in?
Tracy Varner on 2009-11-30
I have experienced this... I tend to dive a little too far down the rabbit hole sometimes; whether it is work-related, Internet browsing/learning, or for professional development. It is too easy to get lost in what you are doing and forget everything else. I need to have the same sense of urgency about my personal life!
I agree that there is something that needs to be addressed in this situation--I'm just not certain how to define it. Is it time-management? Is it needing a hobby?? Not sure...
Nice article by Will Richardson regarding digital footprints.
Ann Marie Lucas on 2009-10-24
The age is the big thing to note. We have discussions about how young do we start with these kids and the answer is they are ready from day one to start using these tools.
Tracy Varner on 2009-11-30
I agree! Students come to school already knowing the basic functionality of computers but likely have not been instructed in the long-term affects (both positive and negative) that can result.
Ann Marie Lucas on 2009-10-24
We definitly have to teach online ettiqute and safety and I think this gets overlooked and is the most important part.
Tracy Varner on 2009-11-30
Yes, and it is important to do this in the context of authentic learning--not a special stand-alone class.
Harlan Howe on 2009-10-13
But do we know how to drive the bus, either?
Tracy Varner on 2009-11-30
Scary, but true... We think that our age and experience will provide us with good judgment when it comes to Web 2.0 tools; however I think that our age and experience can also get in the way of growth, and shift.
In short, for a host of reasons, we're failing to empower kids to use one of the most important technologies for learning that we've ever had. One of the biggest challenges educators face right now is figuring out how to help students create, navigate, and grow the powerful, individualized networks of learning that bloom on the Web and helping them do this effectively, ethically, and safely. The new literacy means being able to function in and leverage the potential of easy-to-create, collaborative, transparent online groups and networks, which represent a "tectonic shift" in the way we need to think about the world and our place in it (Shirky, 2008). This shift requires us to create engaged learners, not simply knowers, and to reconsider the roles of schools and educators.
The new literacy means being able to function in and leverage the potential of easy-to-create, collaborative, transparent online groups and networks, which represent a "tectonic shift" in the way we need to think about the world and our place in it (Shirky, 2008). This shift requires us to create engaged learners, not simply knowers, and to reconsider the roles of schools and educators.
In all likelihood, you, your school, your teachers, or your students are already being Googled on a regular basis, with information surfacing from news articles, blog posts, YouTube videos, Flickr photos, and Facebook groups. Some of it may be good, some may be bad, and most is beyond your control. Your personal footprint—and to some extent your school's—is most likely being written without you, thanks to the billions of us worldwide who now have our own printing presses and can publish what we want when we want to.
ill talks about the importance of self-directed learners being adept at building and sustaining networks. He gives five ideas that will help you begin to build your own personal learning network. He calls and has continued to call for this shift that requires us to foster the development of engaged learners and to rethink the roles of schools and educators. He issues this challenge: “More than ever before, students have the potential to own their own learning- and we have to help them seize that potential. We must help them learn how to identify their passions; build connections to others who share those passions; and communicate, collaorate, and work collectively with these networks.
Exactly. It seems like there's nothing we could do to stop the trend flows but to learn how to appreciate it!
MATESL Classmates on 2009-06-30
Strongly agree.
MATESL Classmates on 2009-06-30
Exactly. It seems like there's nothing we could do to stop the trend flows but to learn how to appreciate it!
MATESL Classmates on 2009-06-30
Yes! I agree!!!
mrs durff on 2009-09-28
It is our job to teach all learners how to leave a great googlable footprint in the digital sand.
MATESL Classmates on 2009-06-30
strongly agree
In the Web 2.0 world, self-directed learners must be adept at building and sustaining networks.
education web2.0 richardson willrichardson socialnetworking digitalcitizenship footprints digitalfootprint leadership ASCD technology teaching pln
what might "Your search did not match any documents" imply?
Tony Baldasaro on 2009-07-20
Engaged Learners means that students are willing and able to learn and unlearn things as necessary. Too often our students simply learn.
Jeremy Duncan on 2009-11-18
The shift requires us to create engaged learners, but it also allows us to create engaged learners much more easily.
Andrew Smith on 2009-11-30
I'm going to push-back here - we need them to think, teach themselves things, and select roles according to the situation as they see it. They don't always need educators; it's an argument for cognitive coaching.
Tracy Varner on 2009-11-30
Absolutely! Empowering students must involve helping them develop a strong metacognative process.
Melissa Pierce on 2009-12-17
I agree on both points here! Learning and then unlearning is so important today, and the way to accomplish this is to help students develop their metacognative awareness.
<b>Giving Students Ownership of Learning: Footprints in the Digital Age.</b> In the Web 2.0 world, self-directed learners must be adept at building and sustaining networks.
ad4dcss web 2.0 social networking digital footprint digital citizenship
Here are five ideas that will help you begin building your own personal learning network.
move our concept of learning from a "supply-push" model of "building up an inventory of knowledge in the students' heads" (p. 30) to a "demand-pull" approach that requires students to own their learning processes and pursue learning, based on their needs of the moment, in social and possibly global communities of practice.
21st century learning web2.0 socialnetworking footprints digitalcitizenship
Saw Will last fall at the conference
web2.0 socialnetworking willrichardson pln digitalcitizenship digitalfootprint
In the Web 2.0 world, self-directed learners must be adept at building and sustaining networks.
web2.0 socialnetworking digitalcitizenship richardson digitalfootprint
Will Richardson
In the Web 2.0 world, self-directed learners must be adept at building and sustaining networks.
web2.0 socialnetworking willrichardson digitalcitizenship richardson digitalfootprint footprints pln
Henry Thiele on 2009-03-19
Our teachers need to focus on engagement as well
Bonnie Raub on 2009-03-26
You've highlighted an important point, Randy. That's what Karen Sternheimer does not yet understand. Part of engaging our students is teaching them how to be safe online. If they understand that publishing "had a nobler goal," they will publish work that they want others to read. They will then also understand the difference between what should be made public and what should be kept private.
In short, for a host of reasons, we're failing to empower kids
to use one of the most important technologies for learning that we've ever had.
One of the biggest challenges educators face right now is figuring out how to
help students create, navigate, and grow the powerful, individualized networks
of learning that bloom on the Web and helping them do this effectively,
ethically, and safely. The new literacy means being able to function in and
leverage the potential of easy-to-create, collaborative, transparent online
groups and networks, which represent a "tectonic shift" in the way we need to
think about the world and our place in it (Shirky, 2008). This shift requires us
to create engaged learners, not simply knowers, and to reconsider the roles of
schools and educators.
An excellent article for educators wanting to be informed about social media and seeking entry points to get started.
This may be the first large technological shift in history that's being driven by children. Picture a bus. Your students are standing in the front; most teachers (maybe even you) are in the back, hanging on to the seat straps as the bus careens down the road under the guidance of kids who have never been taught to steer and who are figuring it out as they go.
In short, for a host of reasons, we're failing to empower kids to use one of the most important technologies for learning that we've ever had. One of the biggest challenges educators face right now is figuring out how to help students create, navigate, and grow the powerful, individualized networks of learning that bloom on the Web and helping them do this effectively, ethically, and safely.
Although many students are used to sharing content online, they need to learn how to share within the context of network building. They need to know that publishing has a nobler goal than just readership—and that's engagement. Take, for example, the story of Laura Stockman, a 10-year-old from the Buffalo, New York, area. Last December, in an effort to honor the memory of her grandfather who had died the year before, Laura decided to do one good deed each day in the run-up to Christmas. She decided, with her mother's approval, to share her work with the world.
Laura's blog, "Twenty-Five Days to Make a Difference" (http://twentyfivedays.wordpress.com), quickly caught the eye of some other philanthropic bloggers. Within a short time, Laura found herself in the midst of a community of volunteers far outside her geographic reach. The ClustrMap on her site tracks tens of thousands of readers from such places as China, Australia, Africa, and South America (see http://www3.clustrmaps.com/counter/maps.php?user=2cf404cc).
But here is the difference: Laura is not just publishing, and others are not just reading. Now when she wants ideas for charities to work for as her project enters its 11th month, Laura says, "I ask my readers"
It's a consequence of the new Web 2.0 world that these digital footprints—the online portfolios of who we are, what we do, and by association, what we know—are becoming increasingly woven into the fabric of almost every aspect of our lives. In all likelih
digital_footprint web2.0 technology literacy learning socialnetworking
Footprints in the Digital Age
Will Richardson
In the Web 2.0 world, self-directed learners must be adept at building and sustaining networks.
From Nov issues of ASCD's Ed Leadership, how to make sure students are "Googled well" and what that means for education. Great article by Will Richardson.
Here are five ideas that will help you begin building your own personal learning network.
1. Read blogs related to your passion. Search out topics of interest at http://blogsearch.google.com and see who shares those interests.
2. Participate. If you find bloggers out there who are writing interesting and relevant posts, share your reflections and experiences by commenting on their posts.
3. Use your real name. It's a requisite step to be Googled well. Be prudent, of course, about divulging any personal information that puts you at risk, and guide students in how they can do the same.
4. Start a Facebook page. Educators need to understand the potential of social networking for themselves.
5. Explore Twitter (http://twitter.com), a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables users to exchange short updates of 140 characters or fewer. It may not look like much at first glance, but with Twitter, the network can be at your fingertips.
socialnetworking digitalcitizenship pln personallearningnetwork professionallearningnetworks
It's a consequence of the new Web 2.0 world that these digital footprints—the online portfolios of who we are, what we do, and by association, what we know—are becoming increasingly woven into the fabric of almost every aspect of our lives. In all likelih
Will Richardson's article "Footprints in the digital age"
socialnetworking web2.0 footprints pln richardson willrichardson digitalfootprint digitalcitizenship
Public Stiky Notes
I agree that there is something that needs to be addressed in this situation--I'm just not certain how to define it. Is it time-management? Is it needing a hobby?? Not sure...
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