What is Digital Content Curation ? Broadly defined, digital content curation is the process and product of
Think of a museum and how the various artifacts and exhibits are organized and presented. Now think of the abundance of media your students encounter as they work on projects or even investigate topics of their own interest. It's certainly not a new idea that students today are overwhelmed with information in multiple formats. Guiding students to be mindful curators of digital content can reinforce lessons on copyright, academic integrity, information literacy, digital and visual literacy, and critical thinking. Digital content curation is addressed in the anchor standards of the common core:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.5
Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
- searching for themed content in digital media;
- sorting that content;
- organizing and categorizing that content; and
- presenting that content in a meaningful and useful manner for collaboration.
Think of a museum and how the various artifacts and exhibits are organized and presented. Now think of the abundance of media your students encounter as they work on projects or even investigate topics of their own interest. It's certainly not a new idea that students today are overwhelmed with information in multiple formats. Guiding students to be mindful curators of digital content can reinforce lessons on copyright, academic integrity, information literacy, digital and visual literacy, and critical thinking. Digital content curation is addressed in the anchor standards of the common core:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.5
Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
Many free content curation tools are available, and you can check out resources page for more. We will provide a few examples of curation tools for various purposes.
bagtheweb
bagtheweb is a very easy-to-use curation tool. It has a similar look and feel to a blog, but each "bag" contains a carefully selected series of web links, videos, and pictures all organized for a specific purpose. On the left-hand side you'll see the content of the bag; on the right-hand side, related bags will appear in a list. Features
Explore the Tool 1. Visit bagtheweb and sign up for a free account. 2. Click on the icon for your first bag. 3. You can edit the title of your bag and add a picture. 4. Use the simple toolbar to add links, dividers, blurbs, or other bags.
5. Use the search bar to find existing bags.
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Tutorials and Resources
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LiveBinders
LiveBinders is a flexible tool for organizing, evaluating, and sharing digital information. This tool is useful to faculty and students. Faculty can organize lesson or unit materials and add their own instructions, lectures, or other content. Students can create collections of themed information, showcase projects, or create portfolios. Features
Explore the Tool
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Tutorials and Resources
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Pearltrees
Pearltrees describes itself as "a free, visual and collaborative library that lets you organize web pages, files, photos, and notes to retrieve and share them anywhere easily." Each item added to the tree is a "pearl." Pearls can be added from mobile devices or computers. The pearls are branched in themed trees. Features
Explore the Tool
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Tutorials and Resources
Official help pages are accessed through your account. Below are some additional tutorials. |
Honorable mention for K-8 grades: eduClipper
The tool/site has many resources and is geared for lower grades. It is visually attractive, but it might take some time to learn. |