Content Curation

In the midst of the information overload that the Internet has brought to our lives, personal and professional, the idea of content curation becomes a must. But what is it and why is it relevant for teachers?

Source: https://danielmiessler.com/blog/curation-for-the-win/

The figure of the curator dates as far back as the 16^th century, when the first documented use of the word is recorded by the Merriam Webster Dictionary, as someone who is in charge of the care and supervision of something, especially regarding exhibits, such as in museums or galleries. But the advent of the Internet has brought about a new use for the term that was first recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary in September 2011. The meaning of curate was extended to cover the selection, organization and presentation of content, especially online. The funnel metaphor provides a very clear representation of what curation involves.

The first step is, therefore, looking for information. Information gathering is something we all are quite good at, but using online tools (such as Feedly or Trap.it) to systematize the search will facilitate the task considerably. However, filtering information is just the beginning. After the selection process comes the human touch. It is here that the job of a good curator becomes more noticeable. It is the time now to compare and contrast information from different sources, to connect it to the needs of a specific audience, to comment on it. That is the hard part of the curation process, but also a vital one. According to Joshua Merritt, without this, there is no curation.

The job of a content curator is, by definition, social, because their work is aimed at an audience. That is why sharing is an inherent part of curation. To do it, there are multiple tools available, some of which you can see in the infographic below.

Source: Katie Dunn at http://dailygenius.com/6-great-tools-content-curation/

And why is this relevant for teachers? The list of reasons is endless. Among the most important is the fact that our “digital resident” students may be well learned in the access to digital information, but they do need someone to guide them in the use and interpretation of that massive amount of information. Turning our backs on that need, we are missing a precious opportunity to optimize our students’ potential.

Halloween and Samhain: one tradition

Long time no write! It was high time I caught up a little on my blogging!

Yesterday many schools around us here in Galicia celebrated Samaín (you can find ideas for primary and pre-primary on the CEIP Pintor Laxeiro website, for secondary on the IES San Paio website or our own pumpkin carving workshop and contest at EOI Pontevedra - A Estrada), whose English language version would be Samhain. Honestly, I was quite surprised to find that my students were not aware of the close ties between Samhain and Halloween. They tended to think of the latter as highly commercialised and rather banal, whereas the former was seen as a more deeply-ingrained tradition, representative of long-held cultural values. Who can blame them, though?

So I thought I might as well throw a little light on the connection between the two celebrations with an interesting article and the video below, both of them tracing the modern celebration back to Celtic times (the link seems pretty obvious now, right?).