CURATION
“Content curation, simply put, is collecting, contextualizing and sharing information, often on a specific topic.” Parker, Hilary. “The Case for Content Curation.” Red Rokk, June 13, 2013. 

There are many demands on an educators time. Whilst they may recognise the educational value of content available on the Internet finding suitable materials using random searches or lists of web links is not the best use of a their available time.

Whilst some may be aware that there are hundreds of thousands of 'open resources' available online, they also realise finding them is time consuming. Coupled with other demand on their time they often feel they have Information Overload.

Curation is the act of identifying, selecting and synthesising content to be shared with a defined audience. The act of gathering and sharing content  and presenting it in a new format adds value to the individual items and it has its own intrinsic value.


There are a growing number of online tools and social media platforms that enable digital curation and sharing. Common features include 'albums' or 'playlists' that points the user in a specific direction or type of content according to an expressed interest.  

The open content toolkit features a regularly updated Showcase of curated content.

Curation examples

Google Arts & Culture is Google’s online platform allowing you to view and explore high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artefacts from around world. It includes interactive ncluding grids maps and timelines example
Wakelet another curation tool that allows you to save, organize, tell stories, and share content from around the web example
Pocket will save web content to for later reading. The content is then delivered to the user's Pocket list (synced to their devices) for offline reading. Pocket removes clutter from articles, and allows the user to add tags to their articles and to adjust text settings for easier reading.

Tips and Tools

  • When curating content to share, choose quality rather than quantity.
  • Include as wide a range of content as possible, e.g.  images infographics, text videos, audio.
  • Always check the licences and sources when sharing as open content.
  • Update regularly with timely and relevant content.
  • Inform your audience of updates and changes.

Curation further reading

MasterNewMedia by Robin Good is an online magazine dedicated to news, skills and resources for communicating more effectively with new media and digital technologies. Curation is a central theme running through the project. Although aimed at a professional media audience there is a lot here for educators to take away.

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