Annoted bibliography

Article “Footprints - In the Web 2.0 world, self-directed learners must be adept at building and sustaining networks."
Author: Will Richardson


In this article, the author, unlike many parents and educators, states that “Networking” is the New Literacy.
“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.”
Later, W. Richardson adds that “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).”
Among other digital competences, the author emphasizes that young students must be aware and mastered about Transparency and being Trackable. More than ever, what we write can be seen by others, but it can also be copied, searched and viewed both by those that we intend to and those that we don’t.
W. Richardson also points out that educators must understand the potential of networks and new technologies, being able to take advantages of these networked learning places.
“Middle school students should be engaged in the process of cooperating and collaborating with
others outside the classroom around their shared passions, just as they have seen their teachers do. And older students should be engaging in the hard work of what Shirky (2008) calls “collective action,” sharing responsibility and outcomes in doing real work for real purposes for real audiences online.”