Libraries and publishing

Robin Good: If you are looking for ways to expand your horizon of content sources that you can use to find valuable content for your curated news channel, Pawan Deshpande, founder and CEO of Curata, has done an excellent job of listing and describing the many alternatives available to you.

 

While many beginner curators rely on their set of RSS feeds and on simple web searches to find new and interesting stuff on their topic of interest, there are a dozen more content source types that can be tapped to find relevant stuff. This article helps you start learning where to look to find them.

 

 

Useful. Resourceful. 8/10

 

Full article: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/12/sources-content-curation-inspiration/

 

 

Via Robin Good, gdecugis, Dennis T OConnor

Neil Gaiman, author and Honorary Chair of National Library Week, speaks about the value of libraries, librarians and librarianship before his lecture at the ...

Via gwynethjones, Dennis T OConnor

Robin Good: Must-read article on ClutterMuseum.com by Leslie M-B, exploring in depth the opportunity to have students master their selected topics by "curating" them, rather than by reading and memorizing facts about them.

 

"Critical and creative thinking should be prioritized over remembering content"

 

"That students should learn to think for themselves may seem like a no-brainer to many readers, but if you look at the textbook packages put out by publishers, you’ll find that the texts and accompanying materials (for both teachers and students) assume students are expected to read and retain content—and then be tested on it.

 

Instead, between middle school (if not earlier) and college graduation, students should practice—if not master—how to question, critique, research, and construct an argument like an historian."

 

This is indeed the critical point. Moving education from an effort to memorize things on which then to be tested, to a collaborative exercise in creating new knowledge and value by pulling and editing together individual pieces of content, resources and tools that allow the explanation/illustration of a topic from a specific viewpoint/for a specific need.

 

And I can't avoid to rejoice and second her next proposition: "What if we shifted the standards’ primary emphasis from content, and not to just the development of traditional skills—basic knowledge recall, document interpretation, research, and essay-writing—but to the cultivation of skills that challenge students to make unconventional connections, skills that are essential for thriving in the 21st century?"

 

What are these skills, you may ask. Here is a good reference where to look them up: http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/P21_Framework_Definitions.pdf (put together by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills)

 

 

Recommended. Good stuff. 9/10

 

Full article: www.cluttermuseum.com/make-students-curators/

 

(Image credit: Behance.net)

 

 

Via Robin Good, João Greno Brogueira, Amanda McAndrew, Official AndreasCY, LaiaJoana, Rui Guimarães Lima, Ramon Aragon, Paulo Simões, Dennis T OConnor