In the article, "World Without Walls: Learning Well With Others," Will Richardson writes about the access that teens and kids have to information, and their ability to share it, using technology. Richardson describes how in the "collaborative age", an amazing amount of information is available on the web. He talks about how people are able to learn with others who have similar interests. The article discusses the importance of teachers and adults guiding kids and helping them to navigate the amazing network of online connections because on the Internet, there is so much information that it is often hard to tell what information is reputable or applicable. It also points out that even without adult guidance, kids use online networking, so it behooves everyone if they are helped by adults to learn online constructively.

In the article Richardson writes, "we need to rely on trusted members of our personal networks to help sift through the sea of stuff, locating and sharing with us the most relevant, interesting, useful bits." To me, this quote is really interesting because it recognizes that at times, the information and spider-web of communication online is overwhelming. I think that its important that people aren't alone in trying to make their way through all this. It is helpful for anyone to have people upon whom they know that they can rely for accurate information and sources. You always need to have a starting point.

In this article I was surprised by the actions of Laura Stockman, an eleven-year old who uses her blog to come up with community service projects. I was surprised that she was able to so effectively communicate with people around the world, but I was even more surprised that she was able to take the information that she learned from blogging and turn it into something real and productive.

I think that in out media class, connected learning has the potential to be very successful. I really like the idea of being given free reign to learn about something that I am genuinely interested in. At the same time, I am a bit daunted by how many sources there are out there with which to interface.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm interested in the directing aspect of film. I think that it would be cool to use this to learn more about directing techniques and directors.

Here's a link to an annotated copy of the article.