Content Curation: Avoiding Info Overload

Content Curation: How to Avoid Information Overload
By Steven W. Anderson
(Corwin, 2015 – Learn more)

Reviewed by Laura Von Staden

Content Curation is a quick and handy read to help teachers be more efficient.

This slim book is one in the Corwin Connected Educator Series. At a mere 56 pages, it is succinct and useful, providing a quick, “key points” approach to the topic of curation.

Anderson discusses what curation is, why it is important for both teachers and students, and how teachers can use it to help with their own professional development. He then gives quick chapters (no more than 8 pages each) on how to use (and the benefits of) three of his favorite tools for curation: Evernote, Diigo, and Pocket.

Anderson also includes a chapter on other tools that educators may find useful for curation in their practice. He concludes the book (as he does each of the chapters on the specific tools) with a discussion of classroom applications.

While short, this book is filled with resources and links to help us find, evaluate, save and share the materials that are most useful to us amid the explosion of information and resources that are available. Using curation tools, we can better our practice as educators who have access to unprecedented technology, and in the process, help our students learn these essential skills they will need for success in the future.

Definitely a worthwhile book.

Dr. Laura Von Staden is a Special Education Middle School Teacher in Tampa, Florida. She serves on numerous committees both at her school and within her district and works closely with the local university where she is a Professional Practice Partner and a master mentor. Dr. Von Staden also facilitates both online and face-to-face Professional Development for her school district.