Content Curation for Teaching & Learning

Originally presented at CAT on 12 September 2013 by Bart Everson

A full-length video is also available on Vimeo or YouTube.

Originally presented at CAT on Sept. 12, 2013 by Bart Everson

Introduction to Content Curation

1. The Problem: Too much information
2. The Solution: The human element (Example: Autumnal Equinox Pinboard)
3. Curation, like in a museum
4. Librarians already know
5. The process: Sifting, finding, collating, contextualizing, sharing (using tools) — SEEK SENSE SHARE
6. Distinction between curation and collection (See Nancy White)
7. We can learn from curators
8. We can learn by becoming curators

Why This Matters for Teaching & Learning

Big Picture: Fundamental literacy about curation is essential for 21st century citizens

Adapted from Robin Good

1. An Overwhelming Abundance of Information Which Begs to Be Organized (critical thinking)
2. A Growing Number of "Open" Teaching / Learning Content Hubs
3. From a Static, Unchanging World of Information to a Constantly Changing One
4. Real-World Info Is Not Held Inside Silos
5. Fast-Food Info Consumption in Decline
6. Job Market Changing - New Skills Needed
7. Alternative Certification Systems Emerging
8. Teachers Can Curate Their Textbooks
9. Educational Marketplace Open to Thousands of Competitors
10. Demand for Trusted Guidance

Tools

Could list many more... Instead let's narrow down to three or five

1. Pinterest (Example: Autumnal Equinox Pinboard)
2. Scoop.it (Example: Tech Mindful)
3. Learnist (Example: Autumnal Equinox Learnboard) / MentorMob EDU (Example: Autumnal Equinox Playlist)
4. Listly (Example: Autumnal Equinox List)

Don't forget Twitter, Facebook, and blogs can be used as curation platforms.

Best Practices

Adapted from Justine Hyde

1. Decide on a goal for curating content – why are you doing it?
2. Set a schedule – curate regularly, even if it’s just 1 hour a week
3. Choose your topic – make sure it is linked to your goal
4. Choose your sources – don’t wander aimlessly online
5. Scan, evaluate & select the best content
6. Read the best content in depth
7. Think about the content and decide why it is important to your curation
8. Annotate/ comment on/ evaluate the content to give it context for your audience
9. Share it and engage your audience – ask for comments, contributions

Practical Applications for Teaching & Learning

1. Follow curators to stay fresh & on top of developments in your discipline.
2. Curate on your own to do the same.
3. Curate for your students: muddiest point, maybe even flip your classroom.
4. Students as curators.

Sample assignment with rubric:
Geographic Content Creation & Curation via Scoop.it
From Dr. Greg Atkinson, Tarleton State University. Used by permission.

Additional rubrics:

• Knowledge Curation Blog Post & Response Assessment
• Managing Information Through Curation

Final Thought: Storytelling

Curation as "just one part of an overall storytelling strategy." — Chris Thilk

Credits

Most of the images used in the presentation are licensed under Creative Commons and are organized into galleries on Flickr (another exercise in content curation). Many thanks to the generous photographers and graphic designers who have allowed me to use their work.

• Introduction to Content Creation
• Why Content Curation Matters for Teaching & Learning
• Tools for Content Curation
• Best Practices for Content Curation
• Practical Applications for Teaching & Learning

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.