{"id":3241,"date":"2015-10-20T09:30:04","date_gmt":"2015-10-20T08:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/?p=3241"},"modified":"2015-10-29T11:47:28","modified_gmt":"2015-10-29T10:47:28","slug":"learning-through-finding-choosing-sorting-and-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/tel\/2015\/10\/20\/learning-through-finding-choosing-sorting-and-sharing\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning through finding, choosing, sorting and sharing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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flickr photo by catspyjamasnz<\/a> shared under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) license<\/p><\/div>\n

Students have access to unprecedented amounts of information online and need to move beyond consumption to more critical, organised and productive use of digital materials, tools and platforms. <\/span><\/p>\n

In this post I will be suggesting that \u2018content curation\u2019<\/a> activities that involve \u2018sorting through the vast amounts of content on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific theme\u2019<\/span>\u00a0can be used to develop critical thinking<\/a> and digital capabilities<\/a>. Learners involved in content curation go beyond searching for information to evaluating what they find, sharing with peers and commenting on their discoveries. It can also be the beginning of a Personal\/Professional Learning Network (PLN) that will sustain someone throughout their career.\u00a0<\/span>We should not forget, however, that curation also has another important role to play in the field of digital preservation. This is generally referred to as \u2018digital curation\u2019 which \u00a0\u2018<\/span>involves maintaining, preserving and adding value to digital research data throughout its lifecycle\u2019<\/span> (<\/span><\/i>Digital Curation Centre<\/span><\/a>)<\/span>. <\/span><\/i>It is becoming increasingly important to think about how materials which are \u2018born digital\u2019 can be preserved against a backdrop of redundant formats and disappearing platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seeking and finding<\/span><\/h3>\n

Knowing how to search effectively online and evaluate digital resources are crucial skills for study and for life. L<\/span>ibraries are keen to help students develop this aspect of information\/digital literacy and the University of Sussex Library provides <\/span>subject guides<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>online tutorials<\/span><\/a> and workshops for undergraduates and postgraduates all accessible via the <\/span>Skills Hub<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Identifying individuals and organisations who regularly post content in your field can be an excellent complementary way of finding content on an ongoing basis. <\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/a> is useful for finding relevant material and discussions and other social media platforms such as Facebook, <\/span>Google+<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a> offer opportunities to get involved in subject-specific groups and communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

Subscribing to academic blogs is a very effective way of hearing the latest ideas. A service like <\/span>Feedly<\/span><\/a> or Inoreader will help you to organise the posts coming in and let you skim through them all in one place on your computer or mobile device.<\/span><\/p>\n

Choosing who to \u2018follow\u2019 on social media is the first phase of critical thinking. It is important to \u2018curate\u2019 people\/institutions if you are to use your PLN as a content filter and avoid trivial or unreliable posts. You can do this with <\/span>Twitter lists<\/span><\/a>, Google plus <\/span>Circles<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Communities<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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flickr photo by mathplourde<\/a> shared under a Creative Commons (BY) license<\/p><\/div>\n

Student activities could include:<\/span><\/p>\n