The digital age has introduced us to a “Learning 3.0”
environment which entails participatory, social, and community learning modes
and multidirectional content based on a connectivist theory (Wheeler, 2012). We are in the midst of an information overload
crisis, so how can we retain all the content being published on the web today? Especially when experts predict that this
content will double every 72 hours in the near future (Fiorelli, 2011).
After exploring Diigo V5.0, a popular bookmarking tool, I
noticed that the use of bookmarking and tagging is very valuable to my
education as they act as information management tools to help organize the
websites I use on a regular basis. Diigo
offers unique features that let users digitally highlight information and post
sticky notes on websites they have bookmarked in order to actively e-read while
acquiring better retention of the content being viewed. As Diigo is a virtual tool that can be used
on your personal computer, laptop, smartphone, and iPad, it helps students like
me retrieve information wherever they are on the go. Diigo even allows users to download pages to
read offline when they cannot connect to the internet. Considering I do not have any data on my
smartphone, this feature is especially beneficial to my needs.
Similar to Diigo, there are several other curation tools
available on the global web. As we live
in a world filled with content abundance, the skills of finding, making sense,
and sharing online content is crucial to one’s effectiveness as a digital
citizenship (Kantor, 2011). Content
curation can be illustrated as a personal knowledge management tool that finds,
gathers, and organizes online content relevant to a specific field, industry,
or topic. It is a logical and scientific
process that cherry picks the best online content in order to enrich curator’s
knowledge while keeping them aware of the latest trends and issue in their
industry (Ahuja, 2012). According to
Fiorelli, curation is based on a 3 step process that includes: finding the best
content, adding value, and crediting (2011). By finding the best content, curators offer
high value to students like myself looking for quality content that is both
valid and reliable (Kantor, 2011).
Adding value within curation tools usually depend the act of adding valuable
commentary. Offering such commentary
helps students or active web users create an online identity, connect with the
online community, reach their audiences, and gain online authority and/or trust
(Ahuja, 2012). Crediting, the last step
of the curation process, helps students practice giving credit and recognition
to the original creators of the online content, instead of simply plagiarizing.
Ownership and credibility has become a
major issue in the development of the digital age as online content is being
copied and shared at unconceivable rates.
Curation helps digital citizens understand the importance of crediting
and sharing content in an honest and legal way while building knowledge.
The curation tools I have recently explored would fall under
Malan’s “aggregate” category within my personal learning environment
(2010). Fiorelli defines aggregation as “the
act of curating the most relevant information about a particular topic in a
single location” (2011). Therefore Diigo
and Scoop.it, the two tools I used most this week, can be easily categorized
into the aggregate section of my personal learning environment. At the start of my journey in this course, I
had consumed no aggregation tools but now (at week 4) I am proud to share that
I have explored several different aggregation and curation tools within the
last 2 sessions of this course. This
experience has grown and broadened my personal learning environment as I
continue to explore great tools to compliment my learning as a digital citizen.
The link below is an item that I found on my Feedly that
illustrates the benefits and growing popularity of content curation tools. This item of interest provides readers with
an extensive list of various curation tools that students might find valuable to
enhance their personal learning environment in the digital age.
References
Kantor, 2011.
Hi Jamie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment on my blog. It is very much appreciated as the only person who reads it is my husband, and my girls if I force them, and it's hard to get honest feedback from them. I really quite enjoy blogging, more than I thought.
I would say that your blogs are not boring as you said. They are very informative and professional which I enjoy reading. Everyone's writing style is going to be different and that is why I enjoy reading your blogs. You have a lot of good information for all of us to learn from. Your great tools discussions are helpful too.
As for the Diigo tool, I did have to practice for a bit before I got the hang of it, and now I have moved on to Evernote, however, I might go back to use Diigo because I am comfortable with it.
The Word for me is a nightmare!! In the beginning, I would document my thought all week in Word, then copy and paste, Then I would have to spend about 2 hours with the format, however, I think that is me being a little OCD on the appearance of it. I do have to create many lectures for my job as an educator of dental hygiene, so I am very picky on how they look and read.
Anyhow, thanks for sharing your thoughts and discoveries in your blogs.
Debbie