Welcome to my first personal blog post!
Having posted before on other blogs, I decided it was time that my own digital footprints should make more of an impression: they should have direction and purpose. Although I had been procrastinating for over a year, mainly because I was not convinced I would have the time or perhaps more importantly something worthwhile to say, my decision was made when responding to @RusulAlrubail‘s tweet about how the footprints we make in this world matter. I replied by saying that most of the time we tread on ‘tippy’ toes – unsure of putting our feet firmly on the ground. That is certainly the case with me.
If we think about the footprints we make on a beach, they remain only until the tide eventually washes them away. Although our digital footprints have a permanency that only modern technology enables, the sea of mankind and the tide of change can still wash over them removing them from sight. So the question is, how visible do we want our footprints to be? If one person truly can make a difference, and I believe they can, then their footprints need to make a lasting visible impression.
I feel that as I am working in the field of education, I should be making a difference. Not in any self promoting way – I am definitely a ‘guide on the side’ rather than a ‘sage on the stage’, but educators should be walking with their students. I want others to make a difference to my learning/understanding of the world. That’s why the emerging theory of connectivism appeals to me, as it is an approach that encourages collaboration and networking as a means of knowing and learning. By connecting to ‘small worlds'(densely connected experts in a field) through weak links (knowing someone in that field/blogs) we are exposed to knowing and learning opportunities that we would not otherwise had. Not only that, we are generating knowledge. Our footprints should no longer be headed in only one direction but multiple, as we join the many other footprints making imprints on our learning.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I welcome comments to engage in critical debate.
pedagogicalperusals 
Very nice read, thought provoking, nice use of metaphor to make me think about how big I want to make my footprints.
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