Content, content, ideas, information, messages, tasks, resources being pushed, tweeted, messaged, pointed, flashed, hash tagged and broadcast.
When drowning and overwhelmed in all this it is easy to step back and let it all keep flying around the world without you. But, what would we be missing? The curious benefit from ideas. Obviously, honing the skills of curation can enable participation and contribution. Curiosity becomes purposeful and fruitful.
Yet, with so many curation tools to choose from selecting one is a feat in itself. A considerable time investment is required to play with the different tools and work out which one is best for you. This seems an instinctive matching of the way you work and the way you move in digital technologies. It could be a problem for some flitting from one curation tool to another, while other people can do this seamlessly and keep track of exactly what content or projects they have on the boil in any given curation space. Not a good fit for me! The content and purpose matters a great deal. I garden, sew and knit and have loved Pinterest for the idea boards, advice, sources of techniques and examples. Until now I haven’t thought of using Pinterest to gather my own projects as a visual record and to record reflection of the process or things I might need to remember for another project. Nor have I thought of using it to share my ideas and tips with others.
One Note is what I use at present because it links with my email and calendar. It is easy to push articles to it and anything from my email. It is something I am comfortable with, the visual space is like a binder and that fits with me. I keep my travel and holiday plans there, lesson ideas, news articles and curriculum planning. I have tried to use it to collaborate with other teachers in my teaching area but we have not found the linking trouble free. We have also tried using Google Docs/Drive but technically it is not working out. So I am trying to find a collaborative space for teaching planning that is seamless. I have accounts for Evernote, Livebinder, Doceri, Prezi and that’s all I have. An account. Signed up. That’s it. And the problem here is the investment in time in finding out how they all work to be able to decide what works for that. Wanting to avoid fragmentation, I want curation tools that fit solidly with a purpose so I can easily distinguish what I have where and why.
So, signed up and curiously delving into what might be an intuitive fit for me.
Signed up and curiously exploring what might fit my young students to begin honing their own curation skills.