Criteria for a curated topic (Secondary English)

Darlas list: Hi all. Heres what I recommend for the criteria: In beginning the evaluation process, we need to first start by defining our purpose and making sure that our topic is linked to our goal or brand (Hyde 2012). I think this is a great idea as part of curation is a targeted approach to selecting resources. We have to begin our assessment of materials by first defining our goals and narrowing our focus. Beth Kanter further notes that A content curator offers high value to anyone looking for quality

content because finding that information (and making sense of it) requires more and more time, attention, and focus. She further notes that we need to:
Be organized Know your sources Scan and thank sources regularly Follow the best curators of your topic Robert Scoble noted In Howard Rheingolds interview, that the best way to begin curating is to: know your sources, see patterns, and be organized. Follow better people because your output helps to determine your input Start by creating a twitter list of just 4 news orgs or journalists and dont add anyone until youve watched and vetted them. Use tools to sort your interests. Nancy Whites article discusses the fact that curation is not just collecting. It also includes evaluation and synthesis of information. She says that we must have a defined inquiry process in order to select appropriate materials. Darlas checklist for content curation: Determine your curation goal and define your purpose. Select a topic that meets the goal. Evaluation for quality and value begins here: Research the content leaders who write, blog, and create content around the topic. Determine who comprises the professionals in the chosen field. Have they published academically? Who is talking about them? Do they maintain a respected reputation? Follow 4-6 content leaders and get to know them. Monitor who your sources follow. Monitor who follows your sources. Use a tool to limit information to your topic. Ask questions related to your topic

What do I know? What do I want/need to know? Observe your source material. Does it answer your questions? If not, find other, more relevant, sources for your topic.

Hyde, J. (2012, Aug 1). Send in the humans - content curation for beginners. Retrieved from: http://justinehyde.tumblr.com/post/28470362365/send-in-the-humans-content-curation-forbeginners Kanter, B. (2011, Oct 4). Content curation primer. Retrieved from: http://www.bethkanter.org/content-curation-101/ Rheingold, R. (2011, Mar 7). Robert Scoble on Online Curation. Retrieved from: http://youtu.be/WMn-cJHzF8A White, N. (2012, Aug 7). Understanding content curation. Retrieved from: http://d20innovation.d20blogs.org/2012/07/07/understanding-content-curation/

Criteria for Curating Content (Secondary English) Hello everyone! Below are some basic criteria for Curating Content: 1. Identify a goal or purpose (topic) 2. Scour the Internet for resources/ follow topic-related professionals 4. Organize your sources (rank, sort, layout) 5. Share and Interact with others

When we are thinking about curating content, the first steps include identifying the goal and the topic. Understanding how to identify your goal is as simple as asking yourself the following questions: Why curate? Who is this for (audience) and what value will it bring them? What topic encompasses these values? What am I interested to know more about?

Just like a museum curator will identify the theme, they provide the context, they decide which paintings to hang on the wall so should a content curator be choosy about their content selection (Kanter 2011). An image that continued to come up when researching content curation was a strainer. It is an apt representation because there are so many resources on the web but we as curators need to be the strainer and only choose specific sources that fit our goals. Specificity and personal criteria for the use of information that you share is hugely important. Ask yourself: Is the information relevant? Does it represent the overall goal? Am I using a good mix of media? Does the information come from a trusted source? Is the information updated? Beth Kanter states that content curation is not about collecting links or being an information pack rat, it is more about putting them into a context with organization, annotation, and presentation. It is important to make sure that the content is attractive in format and is organized to show connections between ideas. It is important to give credit where credit is due. Justine Hyde states that plagiarism isnt any more acceptable online than in a university thesis. It is imperative to let others know where the information came from. Ask yourself: How can I organize the material in a way that makes sense and stays true to my goal? How can I present the information in a way that will be engaging to my audience? Have I given credit to all shared sources?

In Hydes article she also states, if you want others to engage with your content, you need to engage with theirs too. Finding other professionals that write on similar topics or on topics that can be easily relatable to your own is crucial to building a community of collaboration. Nancy White states that you add value to the collection as a whole by allowing others to share in that knowledge, comment on it, add to it, and participate in the learning that it generates. Ask yourself: Am I interacting on others blogs, video, podcasts, etc? Am I thanking others for sharing my information? Am I thanking others for commenting on my content?

Resources:
Hyde, J. (2012, Aug 1). Send in the humans - content curation for beginners. Retrieved from: http://justinehyde.tumblr.com/post/28470362365/send-in-the-humans-content-curation-forbeginners Kanter, B. (2011, Oct 4). Content curation primer. Retrieved from: http://www.bethkanter.org/content-curation-101/ White, N. (2012, Aug 7). Understanding content curation. Retrieved from: http://d20innovation.d20blogs.org/2012/07/07/understanding-content-curation/

Christinas input Here is my input. I tried not to duplicate things you ladies have already said.

Justina Hyde (2012) listed 10 things that should be part of your plan before you start. There were two things that really stood out to me. The first was to annotate/comment on/evaluate the content to give it context to your audience. The second was Share it and engage your audience. I didnt really think about asking for comments or additional information. This would be helpful. For checklist: Are you asking for comments, and/or contributions? Why did you include this source in your collection? Justine Hyde (2012) points out that there are some curation etiquette that should not be overlooked. She talks about making sure that you credit your sources. Just dont add something to your blog or site without giving credit where credit is due. She also adds that we should join the conversation. Be a presence when people post comments on your stuff, say thank you or add further information. Dont forget to comment on others as well. For checklist: Are you giving credit to your sources? Are you joining the conversation? Beth Kanter (2011) talks about three main parts of curation: seek, sense, and share. The last two are the ones that really drew my attention. The first was in sense. Make sure that what you are curating fits in with your objectives or goals. Dont collect things that are way out of order or off the wall. I believe that doing so would make some lose interest in you or question your professionalism. The second was share. Be organized and know your sources. Dont just

throw things out there because you think they might be good. Research your sources and really know what they are about. Also being organized can help others follow where you are headed and what you have posted. For the checklist: Does this fit in with my objectives and/or goals? Am I organized? Do I know my sources? Hyde, J. (2012, Aug 1). Send in the humans - content curation for beginners. Retrieved from: http://justinehyde.tumblr.com/post/28470362365/send-in-the-humans-content-curation-forbeginners Kanter, B. (2011, Oct 4). Content curation primer. Retrieved from: http://www.bethkanter.org/content-curation-101/

Determine your curation goal and define your purpose. Select a topic that meets the goal. Research the content leaders who write, blog, and create content around the topic. Determine who comprises the professionals in the chosen field. Have they published academically? Who is talking about them? Do they maintain a respected reputation? Follow 4-6 content leaders and get to know them. Monitor who your sources follow. Monitor who follows your sources. Use a tool to limit information to your topic. Ask questions related to your topic What do I know? What do I want/need to know? Observe your source material. Does it answer your questions? If not, find other, more relevant, sources for your topic.

Identify a goal or purpose (topic)

Scour the Internet for resources/ follow topic-related professionals Organize your sources (rank, sort, layout) Share and Interact with others Why curate? Who is this for (audience) and what value will it bring them? What topic encompasses these values? What am I interested to know more about? Is the information relevant? Does it represent the overall goal? Am I using a good mix of media? Does the information come from a trusted source? Is the information updated? How can I organize the material in a way that makes sense and stays true to goal? How can I present the information in a way that will be engaging to my Have I given credit to all shared sources? - Annotation Am I interacting on others blogs, video, podcasts, etc? Am I thanking others for sharing my information? Am I thanking others for commenting on my content?
Are you asking for comments, and/or contributions? Why did you include this source in your collection? Are you giving credit to your sources? Does this fit in with my objectives and/or goals? Am I organized?

my

audience?

Do I know my sources? Are you joining the conversation? Would the work qualify as premium content? Relevance Do not reinvent the wheel. Summarizing Use the tools that are available, such as BagtheWeb, to sort through online content. Focus on quality over quantity. ( I would almost say both? Ideas?) When in doubt, apply the content to standards or have a trusted colleague assess for is useability and effectiveness. review the content thoroughly to make sure there is nothing unfavorable Will it improve the greater body of work Make sense of the content before deciding to keep or discard. Ask yourself how this will fit in. Is it cohesive? Is there depth & quality of the discussion? What is the added value to the existing collection? Let students curate. Would it contribute to the value of the section and book (textbook) as a whole? (Andrea) HI Ladies, What I have found as I have gone through these sources is that they are more about how to curate, rather than how to assess what is appropriate for acceptable content. I am pasting what I have so far and will continue to add. I am sure there will be duplicates, but I wanted to make sure I could achieve it on my own before trying to contribute to the group. :) 1. Relevance -- [A] content curator continually seeks, makes sense of, and shares the best and most relevant content on a particular topic online. Content curators have integrated this skill into their daily routine (Kanter, 2011). Content is dynamic and can quickly become obsolete. Kanter, B. (2011, Oct. 4). Content Curation Primer. [Web log comment]. Retrieved from http://www.bethkanter.org/content-curation-101/

2. Do not reinvent the wheel. Know what content has been curated and how well it is being maintained. 3. Summarizing Curatorssummarize and contextualize in their own words, explicitly explaining why the resource is worthy of attention (Jenkins, 2012). Jenkins, H. (2012, Aug. 17). How did Howard Rheingold get so Net Smart?: An Interview (Part Three). Retrieved from http://henryjenkins.org/2012/08/how-did-howard-rheingold-get-so-netsmart-an-interview-part-three.html EContent Magazine (2011) suggests the following: 4. Use the tools that are available, such as BagtheWeb, to sort through online content. 5. Focus on quality over quantity. Mullen, E. (2011, Nov 30). What is content curation? EContent. Retrieved from http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=79167 6. When in doubt, apply the content to standards or have a trusted colleague assess for is useability and effectiveness.. 7. Georgy Cohen (2012) recommends that curators should review the content thoroughly to make sure there is nothing unfavorable (p. 12). Cohen, G. (2012, Apr. 10). Effective content curation in higher ed. [Slide Presentation]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/meetcontent/effective-content-curation-in-higher-ed 8. Consider how the content will fit in with the other items as a whole. Will it improve the greater body of work (Merritt, 2012)? Merritt, J. (2012, Sept. 20). If curating is easy, youre doing it wrong: 5 tips for effective content curation. [Weblog comment]. Retrieved from http://www.joshuamerritt.com/2012/09/20/ifcurating-content-is-easy-youre-doing-it-wrong-5-tips-for-effective-content-curation/ 9. Make sense of the content before deciding to keep or discard. Curating is in one sense a quest to understand something -- and then to share it --or teach it to others (White, 2012). White, N. (2012, July 27). Developing future workskills through content curation. Retrieved from http://d20innovation.d20blogs.org/2012/07/27/developing-future-workskills-through-contentcuration/ Note: This is a followup to the earlier post from this blogger. 10. Ask yourself how this will fit in. Is it cohesive? Avoid all that is difficult to navigate, missing a clear context, redundant, out of date, and sometimes of poor quality (Funk, 2012).

Funk, J. (2012, July 23). Educators as curators: 8 steps to bringing your students the best of the web. Retrieved from http://edcetera.rafter.com/educators-as-curators-8-steps-to-bringing-yourstudents-the-best-of-the-web/ 11. Track the engagement surrounding a work. Are the comments favorables? Are there a lot of shares? Is there depth & quality of the discussion? Weisgarber, C. & Butler, S. (2012, Mar. 6). Re-envisioning pedagogy: educators as curators. [Slide presentation]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/corinnew/reenvisioning-modernpedagogy-educators-as-curators-11879841 12. Ask why this is important to this collection. What is the added value to the existing collection? Lungmus, K. (2012, Aug. 13). 5 tips for annotating curated content. Retrieved from http://www.contentcurationmarketing.com/articles/103030/5-tips-for-annotating-curated-content/ Just a thought I would like to interject here: I came into this with the thought that curation was a collection of everything related (i.e. webenglishteacher). But, as I am going through this, I am starting to see it more of a presentation of the absolute best. For example, I love to teach The Odyssey-always have, always will! But, rather than a collection of everything that relates to The Odyssey-every published lesson plan, etc., to curate would be to weed out most and only show the very best (saving links to review the others, of course, because they might change and improve!). Am I looking at this correctly?? Yes- I think this is exactly the point! We need to be picking through to find the best pieces to showcase. - Alyssa 13. Let students curate. It will encourage higher order thinking, construction of knowledge, and making connections (White, 2012, p. 15). White, N. . (2012, July 9). Curating content. [Slide presentation]. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/NancyW1354/curating-resources Note: Another resource from Nancy White. She is the guru! She uses Scoop.it! 14. Consider the value of the work if being included in a textbook. Would it contribute to the value of the section and book as a whole? Holland, B. (2012, Sept. 24). How students can create their own e-textbooks on an iPad. Retrieved from http://edudemic.com/2012/09/students-create-e-textbooks-ipad/ 15. Would the work qualify as premium content?

Gliksman, S. (2012, Feb. 28). Supplementing textbooks with student constructed knowledge bases. Retrieved from http://1to1schools.net/2012/02/supplementing-textbooks-with-studentconstructed-knowledge-bases/

I think that this is a very comprehensive list of criteria for assessing curation. -Alyssa