Review of Hewson's "What size is your digital footprint?"

Hewson, K. (2013). What size is your digital footprint?  Phi Delta Kappan, 94 (7), 14-17.

"If it takes a village to raise a child, wouldn't it also take a village to raise a teacher?"  This is the question posed by Kurtis Hewson as he begins his article.  His focus is in providing emerging new teachers with a network of support through the concept of PLNs (Personal Learning Networks).  Hewson supports the use of PLNs to boost all teacher learning opportunities, but he especially espouses the idea of education majors being taught to connect and expand their digital footprint before they enter the profession of teaching.  New teachers are lacking support in their first year, and end up 'feeling isolated, disconnected and floundering".  PLNs would allow burgeoning teachers to increase their chances of success in their first year(s) by having an online professional and social network.  It also provides a source of continual professional learning which benefits teaching and learning overall. 

While PLNs are relatively new, Hewson's look at PLNs as part of the college curriculum for education majors is a fresh idea and worth spreading.

The article is short but well written, and it provides merely a cursory glance at a very relevant topic.  

In my search for PLNs, I could not have found a topic any closer to my blogging interest.  I really wanted more information from the author about how to best implement it as well other articles that provided more information.