Curating Learning Resources

... students to become both content creators and curators. connect to experts outside class and to the world knowledge base. critique information available on the web. teach students to curate social media.

>>Great list of tools for teachers and students to use - as well as explanation of curating in education.

Bo Adams writes, "More self-curated learning for students: I think the lectures and videos assigned to students to watch at home are examples of “curated learning.” School people paying attention to the transitions in education understand that school used to be the fundamental repository of knowledge and information for young people. School, in the physical sense, is no longer such a monopoly holder. People have far greater access to information, now, so we are moving our curated learning from the classrooms into greater alignment with other means with which people obtain their self-curated information. This seems a logical step. I think Khan is such curation. I think TED is such curation. I think Chicago Ideas Week videos and the Do Lectures videos are such curation. Podcasts and iTunes U are such curation. But when are we going to trust young learners to curate their own instruction and learning, based on their passions, project-pursuits, and personal interests?"

Excellent question - thought-provoking post!

You need curation. Web curators aren't writers, because they are more concerned with locating, selecting, and presenting information than writing original works. Curators do, however, write text that frames, explains, contrasts ...

One of the important elements of the tripartite model of content curation is sharing. It assumes the value which is determined by the purpose and the objectives set by the topic curator(s). Sharing may, for example, follow a marketing strategy or may be moved by the spontaneity of the curator (or the user/follower). With regard to Personal Knowledge Management (PKM), Harold Jarche highlights a significant aspect to guide sharing: discernment, i.e., when sharing you must be aware of the following aspects: when, with whom and how. Sharing can be done openly, through a blog, or it can be targeted to a particular community or network. Like PKM, when you are curating, a discerning sharing also contributes to build trust. If a curator sets himself as a reliable node for a community or network, his intervention will have a greater value and impact.

Image credit:Harold Jarche

 http://www.jarche.com/2012/08/sharing-with-discernment/

Content curation will play a major role both in the way we teach and in the way we educate ourselves on any topic. When and where it will be adopted, it will deeply affect many key aspects of the educational ecosystem.

In this article, Robin Good idenfies and describes 10 key factors that are coming together at this point in time that may dramatically change the education landscape:

1. An Overwhelming Abundance of Information Which Begs To Be Organized

2. A Growing Number of "Open" Teaching / Learning Content Hubs

3. Constantly Changing Information

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

Robin explains, "Curation fits in as a more appropriate approach to learning and to prepare for real-world work challenges, by allowing learners to construct meaning by having to research and to understand and to create new relationships between different information-elements."

I agree.

Robin further explores the impact on higher education, and the possibility that we are experiencing a "higher education bubble."  Very interersting thought. To ride out this storm Robin suggests institutions  "rapidly upgrade their role and function to where they can still provide a valuable and in-demand service to both society and individuals. One of these he suggests is to become...

"curating human guides, training future curators - by cultivating and supporting the development of skilled information-guides and coaches that possess the skills of a curator and those of a great story-teller." 

Immediately I thought...this is what librarians do!

Excellent article!