"Curation Platforms" are tools which enable you to personally select online content, to edit it, and to share it.~~ from Social Compare website (table embedded below) ~~
With the 'inflood' of information to the web, old information can easily become buried by new. Bookmarking is a way to preserve content which otherwise can become progressively more difficult to locate.
Special toolbars make it possible to bookmark on the fly.
Set up a master list for each class/course.
Suggest students create personal research lists. To make it easy to find items when doing a bibliography, give a special tag to any source used in a paper.
Create a pre-determined class set of tags. If students build a master list collaboratively, they must use the same set of tags.
A simple group project for early in a course -- have students organise themselves into groups to find and share 3 sources of information on key topics. They must use the bookmarking features you think will be most useful to them -- eg. summarizing,highlighting key passages.
During group projects require that students tag entries with their names so you can assess each person's contributions and ability to locate and understand information.
Collaborate with librarian to create additional reading lists.
Some of the features of Diigo and Delicious are complementary, but both platforms make it easy to export bookmarks to the other. You may want to keep similar lists in each and use with different audiences.
Bookmarking is a great way to keep track of websites with content you even might want to revisit.
With social bookmarking you can find and follow other curators' or groups' reading and take advantage of their 'finds'.
Bookmarking may not be students' personal 'social' media tool of choice. They may have to be shown how to use it well.
Tagging is like building an index. Bookmarks lists become unmanageable & unsearchable without tags. Review these periodically to stay consistent.
Online sources can disappear. Lists should be checked periodically so they remain current.
These have special sharing & privacy features, the ability, removal of inappropriate advertising, automatic group features, and more. Students can take their bookmarks from class to class and convert to personal accounts later. (See FAQ.)
only list format -- so not as visually interesting
be selective when highlighting or using stickies.
free version limits number of bookmarks per year
page-caching (so you can see the page even if the link is broken) is a premium, but very useful, feature
"A stack is a collection of links built around a common theme which can include the collector's commentary. ... Stack creators can choose link order, images, descriptions, and ultimately frame the conversation or topic with personal titles and comments."*
iDevice apps
feed from Twitter can be enabled
completely free
doesn't have the highlighting and annotation functions of Diigo
no android apps?
not developed with the educational audience in mind
Not sure which of the old features have been preserved (eg. tag cloud)
Magazine or Newspaper Tools
I personally would not use these kinds of tool to store my course research because it's so extensive & I want to be able to annotate. These are better suited to special projects or for presentations where audience appeal & or participation is important. They do feed you current information from sources such as Twitter or Google+, but there are consumer-oriented services which do this better.
This is collection on a grand scale, but not curation which involves thoughtful filtering and classification to create a resource that puts usefulness ahead of capturing everything.
My preferred use of Scoop.it is to collect resources, suggestions, ideas, and how-to's from Moodle Meets (online pro-d events). Sample left is from our GeoGebra MM.
I suggest students use gmail accounts to register. Then there are 2 ways to handle group work: (a) one person creates the Scoop and updates using others' suggestions (items credited to each contributor) OR (b) group members share login information and contribute under the 'owner's' name.
Ideas:
Instead of building your own 'extra reading' lists for a course, use others' curated collections.
Rather than have students spend their time locating resources, use others' Scoops. Create activities involving higher order thinking skills of synthesis and analysis. Involve students in making & sharing deeper & more interesting connections.
visually appealing way to display a collection of 'themed' materials
fast and easy to use
content blocks can be moved but it's a little clunky if you have a lot of pages; can pin only the lead block in any topic
entries are easily tagged and the tags can be easily changed or updated
well indexed -- searches often return resources in various 'Scoops'.
offers a widget which fits nicely into a Moodle or website side panel. You'll need to experiment with shape and size so it looks right.
it's possible to 'block' all feeds to your suggestion list by making up a nonsense keyword. (Only suggestions made by viewers will show up.)
iPhone app
bookmarklet
notification by email when suggestions are made or others follow your topic
BE SELECTIVE; ADD VALUE; TAG FOR SEARCHING
DO NOT EMBED USING AN iFRAME!!
'passive' social curation -- you can follow other Scoopers & make suggestions or comments on their collections. Scoop.it aggregates suggestions from other services (eg. Twitter) based on your keywords.
'active' social curation -- i.e. collaboration -- comes only with paid version
can't embed another person's Scoop.it widget without writing and asking for their embed code
free vs. gives only 5 free topics with any email address -- work around this by setting up several gmail accounts.
educator pricing package is coming, but will permit only 30 contributors and 20 yearly topics. After the subscription lapses, all work will still be available online under the 'free' conditions.
the URLs of online pdf's NOW WORK!! You may have to go through old Scoop.its and update.
The higher ed. sample below shows how tweets can be collected and shown below a presentation embedded from another website (eg. Slideshare). The presenter/teacher has selected and arranged key tweets under captions to build a story of what happened during this meeting.
Essential tips for using Storify:
1. Curate. Don’t try to include every little piece of something in your Storify. Instead, make choices to collate or summarize a conversation without simply recreating it.
2. Stage. Curating material for a Storify involves taking a position, because you’re deciding what should and should not be included; however, it’s also important to make that position transparent and to offer some (even if minimal) introduction to the materials you’re collecting.
3. Direct. The best Storify artifacts read like a great drama (see Sean Michael Morris’s comparison of teaching to a play). Storify allows you to insert comments in the thread as it unfolds, so give yourself license to add stage directions and emotional punctuation.
4. Redirect. Announce your Storify creation, but don’t let your audience off the hook. Ask them to engage rather than allowing them to be passive observers. Encourage comments on your Storify or ask questions about your Storify on Twitter (or Facebook or Google+ or …)
drag-and-drop simplicity
can integrate many kinds of online content
can give value to students' feedback by publishing it and responding to it
it's possible to collect information on one event from many sources and compare them for accuracy
could be an interesting way to develop a sort of timeline
embed code provided to keep a live copy in your blog or website
free (at the moment)
iPad app
it's easy to just compile rather than filter and find the story.
if you make the search terms too broad, you could be overwhelmed by content.
embed code does not work in all Wordpress blogs, but try this in Internet Explorer to make sure it's not a browser problem (esp. if using free Wordpress blog).
The paper below is published by another Wilkes IM grad.
Ideas:
have students learn to find and present varied points of view or a balanced perspective. They don't always have to tell a one-sided story.
use an edition to provoke dialogue
use these as a source of information -- find reliable or authoritative curators and include their 'papers' in your collection of course materials
If you're using Twitter or Google+ as a class backchannel, have students to collate those feeds to present a coherent discussion or to summarise problems and how they were resolved.
can filter the feeds (eg. decide whose Twitter feeds you want to see)
[Note: there's another curation tool similar to this which permits collaboration through Google+ circles, but at the moment I can't recall what it is!!!]
set up a professional 'journal' for your class to be published at specified intervals. Create a list of themes & give student groups responsibility for feeds,selections, and editor's note. Archive on the LMS.
so popular that your students' work isn't likely to disappear
students may already be using this tool
'pins' (term for entries) found elsewhere can be repinned to your board
comments permitted on others' pins (can you prevent this?)
easy to add and edit your own summaries
website encourages users to give credit to original sources
other developers are creating apps and tools which complement Pinterest
requires an invitation to join
to collaborate -- "must follow a board belonging to a user ... to add him/her as a contributor."
pins can only be images
to protect original work posted online, you must add code to each page of your own website (prevents pinning)
anyone can decide to charge for repinning
free at present, but expect premium upgrades to follow
can be used strictly for curation or you can blend your own learning activities in with resources
collaboration is possible but everyone must have an account [seems like they've pushed this tool to do something for which it was not designed to get on the collaboration bandwagon]
bookmarklet
if you curate a lot of sources, the binder 'tabs' pile up and it looks messy; pre-planning may be important
simultaneous collaboration can cause problems
content can be overwritten so must be backed up elsewhere
This is a new find. It's a collaborative, online comparison tool. Tables can be constructed using data from companies on the web and criteria suggested by the website. OR you can work on a table that is completely researched and structured by the curators.Tables may be completely public (all aspects can be edited by anyone), shared by group members, or private.
For a group project, you might specify the types of media, how to authenticate, and how many comparison criteria are required. The students can be given the task of then deciding what those criteria will be and finding the required kinds of media. The class could discuss how to authenticate or at least select more authoritative sources.
Below is a sample of a fully public table comparing curation tools.
Copyright Concerns
Re: USA -- may or may not be accurate, but is worth checking out
A "link back to the source is irrelevant in copyright terms. Pinterest doesn't violate copyright because in the US, where Pinterest is based, there is fairly well established common law that thumbnail catalogs of images constitute "fair use" under copyright law. US copyright law is somewhat unique in this regard so it would be more difficult to operate something like Pinterest based in another country where copyright law has a different approach to "fair dealing".
Tools reviewed: Diigo, Delicious, Scoop.it, Storify, Paper.li, Pinterest, Wikispaces, LiveBinders, Social Compare.
Bookmarking Tools
Suggested Uses
Upside
Caveats
Special toolbars make it possible to bookmark on the fly.
With social bookmarking you can find and follow other curators' or groups' reading and take advantage of their 'finds'.
Tagging is like building an index. Bookmarks lists become unmanageable & unsearchable without tags. Review these periodically to stay consistent.
Online sources can disappear. Lists should be checked periodically so they remain current.
A. Diigo
Chrome in Diigo Help
Mobile Apps in Diigo Help
.
..
Groups in Diigo Help
- Students/groups can share their tag clouds in a class wiki or forum.
- Reasons/ways to use Diigo --
http://clifmims.wetpaint.com/page/Diigo+in+Education- Sample Diigo list --
http://www.diigo.com/list/maggie_diigo/diigo_edu_usecases- preserve your thoughts about a source with highlighting annotation, or sticky notes.
- screencaptures
- customizable toolbar to turn off functions you don't use
- tag cloud for blogs or LMS
- export bookmarks to a blog, Twitter, Delicious
- desktop & mobile versions
- special social networking features for educators & students
- educator accounts
These have special sharing & privacy features, the ability, removal of inappropriate advertising, automatic group features, and more. Students can take their bookmarks from class to class and convert to personal accounts later. (See FAQ.)B. Delicious
Ideas:
- Sample Government course --
www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15512169.2012.641400#preview- Guidelines for students --
www.makeuseof.com/tag/delicious-completely-organize-student-life/- view as a list or 'magazine' which displays images, videos, text, comments, etc. {This may make it more appealing to younger students.]
- sharing and following
- tagging
- stacks -- now don't have to be made public; can be built collaboratively
"A stack is a collection of links built around a common theme which can include the collector's commentary. ... Stack creators can choose link order, images, descriptions, and ultimately frame the conversation or topic with personal titles and comments."*Magazine or Newspaper Tools
A. Scoop.it
.
.
.
.
.
.
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Link to other Scoops on Curation
Negative Example: Curation in Higher Education--> this should be a great resource but there are:
- 13 pages = hundreds of entries
- nearly 100 tags -- most with only 1 or 2 entries
This is collection on a grand scale, but not curation which involves thoughtful filtering and classification to create a resource that puts usefulness ahead of capturing everything.Ideas:
- Instead of building your own 'extra reading' lists for a course, use others' curated collections.
.How to Use Scoop.it for Research from Les McBeth on Vimeo.
- Rather than have students spend their time locating resources, use others' Scoops. Create activities involving higher order thinking skills of synthesis and analysis. Involve students in making & sharing deeper & more interesting connections.
http://mgleeson.edublogs.org/2012/04/07/future-proof-education-learn/The higher ed. sample below shows how tweets can be collected and shown below a presentation embedded from another website (eg. Slideshare). The presenter/teacher has selected and arranged key tweets under captions to build a story of what happened during this meeting.
Other examples & uses:
Quoted directly from Hybrid Pedadogy:
Essential tips for using Storify:
1. Curate. Don’t try to include every little piece of something in your Storify. Instead, make choices to collate or summarize a conversation without simply recreating it.
2. Stage. Curating material for a Storify involves taking a position, because you’re deciding what should and should not be included; however, it’s also important to make that position transparent and to offer some (even if minimal) introduction to the materials you’re collecting.
3. Direct. The best Storify artifacts read like a great drama (see Sean Michael Morris’s comparison of teaching to a play). Storify allows you to insert comments in the thread as it unfolds, so give yourself license to add stage directions and emotional punctuation.
4. Redirect. Announce your Storify creation, but don’t let your audience off the hook. Ask them to engage rather than allowing them to be passive observers. Encourage comments on your Storify or ask questions about your Storify on Twitter (or Facebook or Google+ or …)
C. Paper.li
The paper below is published by another Wilkes IM grad.
Social Sharing Sites
Pinterest
[Note: there's another curation tool similar to this which permits collaboration through Google+ circles, but at the moment I can't recall what it is!!!]
- Drake University
http://higheredlive.com/best-practices-for-pinterest-in-higher-education/- How Educators use Pinterest --
http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/03/how-educators-use-pinterest-for-curation/- from Online Courses website --
www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/04/05/what-students-need-to-know-about-pinterest- from OnlineUniversities website --
http://www.onlineuniversities.com/ways-educators-use-pinterestWikis
Wikispaces for education
Sample:
- Flat Classroom project (not higher ed. but they make extensive use of Wikispaces)
http://www.flatclassroomproject.org/Tools Developed for Educators
LiveBinders
Samples:
- LiveBinder about curation for librarians
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play_or_edit?id=123810- LiveBinders used as an ePortfolio
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=78343Special Purpose Tools
Social Compare
Below is a sample of a fully public table comparing curation tools.
Copyright Concerns
- from Norm Soley, in Quora, Feb. 5, 2011
A "link back to the source is irrelevant in copyright terms. Pinterest doesn't violate copyright because in the US, where Pinterest is based, there is fairly well established common law that thumbnail catalogs of images constitute "fair use" under copyright law. US copyright law is somewhat unique in this regard so it would be more difficult to operate something like Pinterest based in another country where copyright law has a different approach to "fair dealing".