The Shift

Will Richardson’s “Footprints in the Digital Age” informs us on ways to learn being 21^st century learners. He states that people are being “Googled” all over the world whether it be through news articles, blog post, YouTube videos, Flickr photos, or even Facebook groups and most of it is beyond our control. “Network is the New Literacy” is what Will Richardson believes; “This maybe be the first large technological shift in history that’s being driven by children.” This article also questions how educators are teaching instead of a “supply-push” model to a “demand-pull” approach as Richardson says. He thinks we should connect and build networks in order to communicate with people who share the same interest as us. Throughout the article, Richardson converses about a girl named Laura Stockman who creates a good remodel for what a “Google” person should look like. It is up to us educators to take benefit of our technology and to connect with people who share the similar passions as us.

In response to reading “Footprints in the Digital Age” by Will Richardson, It got me to consider networking and Google. It’s a scary thought to think that if any one searched my name they could probably find out a lot about me, but we should not let that keep us from finding out more about people who share the same interest too. One of a many reoccurring words I saw in this article was shift. It is the 21^st century and teachers can’t be teaching us like we’re from the 20^th century because we learn different from how the 20^th century learned. Even though figuring out how to help people create, navigate, and create great networks, technology means that all of creating, navigating, and creating networks. One quote of Will Richardson I like that relates to this is; “The shift requires us to create engaged learners, not simply knowers, and to reconsider the roles of schools and educators.” Instead of stating that we are not the best and it’s because of the teachers not doing a great job a teaching, parents not parenting, and students not wanting to learn ("U.S. Puts Values in Ditch"), this article offers ways we can change and make teaching a learning better and more suitable for 21^st century people. These ideas apply to me because I have been taking "footprints in the digital age" most of my life. I agree that we should find other people online who have the same passions as us and to share our experiences on blogs or YouTube. I noticed when people share a part of there life; they can connect better with others. It draws our attention because it is relevant to out lives and we can connect with other people’s experiences. As we start our blogs about our interests, we should question questions and ask other questions relating to what others have said. Collaborating and working with people who are similar to us I think could be the key to success.