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t'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.

n 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.

our résumé is becoming a Google search result, one that we build with the help of others and that requires our participation

A student's "branding" effort may take many forms

It starts with a school and classroom philosophy of sharing, with the idea that without sharing, there is no education (Wiley, 2010). A culture of sharing doesn't mean just providing content for others to read and learn from; it means sharing to connect with other people with whom we can learn as well. (See "Moving Students Online: First Steps for Teachers.")

The heart of Critical Inquiry is annotation. Students annotate anything they feel is important, confusing, surprising, or inconsistent; anything that connects to previous texts, classes or experiences, or anything that generates a strong positive or negative response. Students annotate with pen or sticky notes. Using their annotations, students generate questions. These form the basis for class discussion and assignments. This process is particularly productive with “inconsiderate texts”--texts that are difficult for reasons such as poor organization, difficult vocabulary, or unfamiliar cultural assumptions, i.e., the type of texts often encountered in their studies.

Reading is the active construction of meaning.