Content+Curation

__What:__
Selectively saving, grouping, annotating, tagging resources and information you find.

__Why:__
To add value to what you find To connect various resources To personalize groups of resources To share a set of information and/or resources that have commentary To differentiate content by providing information at a variety of levels To incorporate guiding questions or comprehension checks along the way

__Tools:__
EdCanvas Now called BlendSpace Storify Scoopit diigo delicious LinoIt LiveBinders
 * Here is an example of one that I created on the topic of online schools

Symbaloo (sort of) Evernote (sort of)

__What might be useful for school and with students:__
You can create a set of resources (in a format other than a list of long urls, no one wants to look at that) and include commentary or questions or activities in the group. You might have information on a set topic but at a variety of levels that pushes those who are ready to read the scholarly article and supports those who need to read a more general public version. You have a learning goal for all students and a variety of sources. Then, you can incorporate some sort of forced response either a comprehension assessment or feedback of some sort. All these can be grouped together in a package. The idea behind this is that you have preselected some content that you want to share as a set and with some commentary or the ability for others to comment. There is also value in having students learn to search and evaluate the sources that they find. This is a separate skill. So, if the searching and evaluating is what you want students to practice, then perhaps they learn some specific search strategies and then find some number of resources that they share with the class and explain how they verified. If searching is not the task at hand or you do not want students to spend time on it at the moment, then providing some preselected and curated links is a good option. Several of these tools will help you to do just that.


 * Notes**: many of these tools require that you make a free account. Go ahead and sign up. Use your school email, use a password you can remember, and try it out. It may take some experimenting to find the right tool for the job you have at hand. // The task or educational goal should always drive the technology and tool choice. //


 * Challenge activities:**

1. Investigating tools
 * Look at one or two of the tools above
 * Watch their introductory videos and/or find some how-tos on YouTube.
 * Identify some pros and cons to this tool
 * Be ready to share a little about how and why this tool might be useful

2. A simple collection of articles/links 3. Try something else
 * think about a time in class when you want students to read and maybe comment on a selection of article.
 * What kind of information will you add to increase the value or relevance of the information
 * Pick a tool that might work for the job
 * Make an account
 * Curate your content
 * Share it with someone else for feedback
 * If you have made a curated set of information try a new tool with the same information
 * Which tool servers your purpose better?