Content Curation World

Google has just introduced "Collections", for Google+, a new service which allows any Google+ user to group his posts by topic and to create public, shareable collections of his favorite links, articles, videos and images.

To use Google Collections, simply go to your G+ profile page and then select "Collections" on the drop down menu appearing on the top left part of the page.

"Each collection can be shared publicly, privately, or with a custom set of people. Once you create your first collection, your profile will display a new tab where other people can find and follow your collections."

You can either create new posts containing whatever type of content inside a collection, or assign an existing, published post to a collection you have just created.

You can create as many collections as you like.

Google+ Collections is available on the web and on Android (iOS coming later).

My comment: Google+ Collections adds opportunity for creating additional value to G+ users by letting interests drive community engagement. This is a feature that sooner or later any social network will offer. 

Free to use.

Try it out now: https://plus.google.com/collections/welcome 

More info:

Official Google announcement: https://plus.google.com/+googleplus/posts/7ZpGWeou2sV 

Featured collections: https://plus.google.com/collections/featured 

See also the official review from Techcrunch:

http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/04/google-turns-users-into-content-curators-with-new-collections-feature/ 

Video tutorial: https://youtu.be/gtVNkbtS9g8 

This article points out in multiple ways and with some interesting supporting data how big is the problem for schools and educational institutions in trying to identify relevant tools to adopt in absence of expert trusted guides that they can rely on.

The Hechingerreport writes: "...school leaders on this new frontier face a daunting challenge: from the slew of highly touted new products, how do they pick the right ones?

“It’s hard for our people to know what all of the choices are,” said Penny Hodge, the assistant superintendent of budget and finance in Roanoke. “Maybe there were even better choices and we weren’t aware.”

Today’s school leaders must navigate a market with little trustworthy evidence to show what works. Billions of dollars are being spent while educators try to untangle a maze of sales pitches."

The problem of identifying the most appropriate tools, services or products is not a problem limited only to the education sector. Just about anyone who is not an tech-expert in his area would have a hard time today finding the most appropriate tools in the midst of so many offerings and so little trustworthy information about them.

"Part of the reason is that credible evidence often isn’t available. Only one-third of school technology directors surveyed said that education technology companies offer reliable data on their products, according to the survey."

The solution to this issue is already starting to emerge in the form of both non-profit and commercial companies who will devote their time and resources to scout, test, verify and review tools while providing the means to search, filter and compare them easily.

Graphite.org, Edshelf are just two among many emerging examples of "reputable curation websites, with professional reviews and a social media component" that provide a one-stop solution for those in need of an expert and trusted guide in the tools for education area.

Must read for anyone interested in better understanding where we are headed when it comes to choosing tools.. 9/10

Full article: http://hechingerreport.org/as-market-surges-schools-struggle-to-find-the-best-tech-products/ 

Check also this excellent head-to-head comparison between Graphite and EdShelf: http://www.psla.org/blog/edshelf-vs-graphite/ 

Image credit: Shutterstock

Paul Bradshaw, author, blogger and reference point for anyone doing online journalism, illustrates with a rich series of examples, the different types of content curation tools and techniques that can be effectively used by journalists today.

The article covers basic curation principles and guidelines as well as offering a set of mini-tutorials on curating lists, playlists, image boards, maps and timelines, news magazines and more.

Informative. Resourceful. Examples-rich. 9/10

Full guide: http://onlinejournalismblog.com/2013/09/30/curation-tools-tips-advice-journalism/ 

Introducing content curation to someone who doesn't know anything about it is not always an easy task.

There are so many different articles, opinions, definitions and recommendations about content curation that it is quite difficult for someone just getting familiar with the topic, to easily find out where to start and what to trust.

To help out anyone needing to support the explanation of content curation to others, here are five comprehensive resource collections I have put together over the course of the last year. 

1) Content Curation - Definitions

a collection of the best and most useful definitions
of what content curation is

http://bundlr.com/b/content-curation-definition  

2) Content Curation - What is it? Video Intros

30+ short video clips that introduce the need,

practice and purpose of content curation 

http://huzzaz.com/collection/content-curation-what-is-it 

3) Content Curation Visualized 

110+ infographics, visuals, illustrations and diagrams explaining what content curation is 

www.pinterest.com/robingood/content-curation-visualized/ 

4) Content Curation Tools Directory - Tools Directory 

100+ of the best content curation tools organized

in a directory for immediate access

http://contentcuration.zeef.com/ 

5) Content Curation Tools Supermap - Tools Collection

600+ content curation, discovery, filtering and publishing tools organized by categories for doing content curation

http://bit.ly/ContentCurationToolsSupermap 

All free to use and share.

New interesting tools make it possible to create online courses and full online learning programs, by drastically simplifying the design process while providing simple tools to curate and bring together valuable existing content already published online.

The first I'd like to bring to your attention is Classmill, which makes it very easy to create online courses by providing a very simple and intuitive interface and allowing the author to add with ease his own texts, as well as images, links and video clips coming from elsewhere on the web. Anyone can publish an online course and make it visible to everyone. Only those who register and join in can see the full contents and can participate in the integrated discussion area for the course.

The second one is Learnyst, which goes one step beyond Classmill by facilitating the creation of a full online school with multiple courses and the ability to charge for selected ones. 

Both tools are extremely easy to use, and allow the assembly of existing materials, whether owned or produced by others. 

This is an interesting trend as in the past most tools to deliver educational content relied on the author creating and posting only his own materials. The fact that you now can easily include valuable content published by others opens up the gates both for the curation of lots of existing content into useful learning courses as well as for the issue of whether and how to compensate curated content from others. 

This economic issue though, does not preclude tons of free high-quality content to be re-used and showcased in many new free learning courses and it provides those who want to learn with even more non-commercial alternatives to master their favorite topics. 

Takeaway: You are going to see more of these tools and more subject-matter experts create valuable learning resources by bringing together key relevant content produced by others while adding tangible value, perspective and context.

If you have a strong passion or expertise it's time to start thinking about building your own online school. 

Check out these two tools:

- Learnyst

- Classmill

Other curation tools for learning moving in the same direction:

- Gibbon

- Learnist

- Educrate

More content curation tools organised in categories:

https://contentcuration.zeef.com/robin.good 

Given the amount of news, stories, tools, events and services that are being announced on a daily basis it is very difficult for anyone to resist the time-saving benefits of subscribing to a newsletter that finds and collects the most relevant items in the specific topic area he is interested into.

If you are a subject-matter expert, a coach, trainer or consultant, you need to monitor and track your field of interest anyhow, and if you learn to put aside, organise and properly collect the good gems you find during your scouting time, you can provide a really useful service to your readers and followers.

Furthermore there is no lack of tools web services that can help you carry out this task without needing to learn new or difficult skills.

Here are my personal six tips of advice and my favorite top six tools you need to check out, if you ever decide to start curating your own weekly newsletter:

Tips

a. Limit the number of curated items. Less is more. Three is plenty. Five is a lot. 

b. Provide concise but useful, tangible info.

c. Offer always as much context as possible. Why you are presenting this info. Who can use it, for what purpose. 

d. Find a thread and follow it. Have a strong focus. Don't mix too many different things without a clear focus or direction.  

e. Add your own voice. Make it heard. Comment. Express opinions. Take a stand.

f. Be timely and consistent. Choose a day and time and respect it.

Tools

1. FlashIssue

Perfect Gmail integration. Use existing contacts as mailing lists. Drag 'n drop design editor. Content discovery, and search and instant import. Free trial. Then starts at $10/mo for 500 contacts. 

2. Goodbits

Friendly, elegant and simple to use. Integrates well with other services. Free to start.

3. Handpick

Handpick your favorite resources and share them with specific groups of interested people. Free trial. $2.99/mo

4. Curated

Everything you need to start a curated newsletter. Starts at $25/mo for 500 subs and 6 newsletters

5. Refreshbox 

Allows you to pick up 5 tools or content resources per issue. Free.

6. Curator

Collaborative curation for professional teams of up to 25 people. Starts at $199/mo

For more content curation tools please see: https://contentcuration.zeef.com/robin.good 

Image credit: Flashissue.com

I have been testing and trying so many different content curation tools that I have been developing a good sense of what is needed most when it comes to searching, collecting, organizing and presenting information collections online.

In this two-part article I have outlined what I expect to be the most relevant changes and innovations that will be likely integrated in the content curation tools already available out there or that will become the key foundations for new ones that are yet to appear.

My article doesn't pretend to be a guide or a comprehensive catalogue of all the features that content curation tools should consider integrating, but simply an exploratory journey into some of the areas and features where I see a need for better support and where I expect to be surprised the most next.

Follow me in this short journey and add to the comments what are your personal expectations and needs on this front.

Full article: http://www.masternewmedia.org/content-curation-tools-future-part1/