Brainpickings! Teacher as Curator: Student as Curator

Intellectually curious?

@brainpicker "our restless “FOMO” — fear of missing out" "the way of gleaning knowledge" Curation: info to insight to knowledge to wisdom
— Mr. O'Brien (@kobenglish14) February 8, 2014

This year I've been thinking and reading more than you can imagine about the changing role of teaching due to the Internet and "information overload."

Consider this: in just last the two years, we have created 90% of the data that exists.
With every tap of the keyboard, I blog and add to that data - that exponential growth of information - that is available on the World Wide Web.

With all that is out there for students to read, why read this simple blog of musings and links and tweets and youtube clips?
At times, I have felt it has been in vain - few students go to the blog.
Some will say candidly, "I don't want to waste my data plan" which is telling...and even disheartening if I were to take it personally.

But frankly, if you are reading this, yes, you, just you, I feel a sense of validation.
My hope is that you is plural, and you are using free WiFi, yet I will get to the point:

Be intellectually curious.

In order to become truly educated, take ownership of your learning: make connections - become a curator, a creator, a publisher, an educator... and yes, a tweeter, a blogger, a tumblr. 

From Brainpickings:

My friends at Percolate and m ss ng p eces (♥ ♥ ♥ ♥), who share that belief, produced this fantastic short film on what “curation” really means, in which I was humbled and honored to join far worthier minds like my wonderful studiomate Tina Roth Eisenberg of Swiss Miss, the inimitable Edith Zimmerman of The Hairpin, Peter Hopkins of Big Think, Anthony de Rosa ofSoup Soup, and more.

Consider the time you spend online - what do you have to show for it?

Likes on Insta or FB?
Retweets and favorites on Twitter?
Yet what have you learned?
Who do you follow?
Who are your friends?
What have you truly shared?

In curation, you take information - glean insights - that with further study becomes knowledge, and through meditation becomes wisdom.

Click here to read more!

If you do one thing this weekend, follow Brainpickings - on Facebook or better yet Twitter (create a public "professional" Twitter handle - create a free gmail in order to do so if you need another email).

@Brainpickings by Maria Popova @brainpicker will set an example of learning via blogging that makes connections between information - gleaning the best insights and stitching them together with knowledge. In reading her blog, you will find wisdom with contemplative cognition.

Or you can get back to your "shows" for another six episodes where you idly pass away your time...
Watching shows is passive entertainment.

Blogging is active learning.
Read more. Listen more on Twitter.

Think about these quotes by these bloggers:

A good curator is thinking not just about acquisition and selection, but also contextualizing.” ~ Joanne McNeil

People really respond to other people’s enthusiasm about things.” ~ Edith Zimmerman

Ideas are the most valuable thing. Good ones make all the difference; bad ones can hold us back, maybe even destroy us. If we can focus on finding the right ones, helping distill them, and transfer them as quickly as possible, we can get more of that. Curation is that means to the end.” ~ Peter Hopkins

Then after time online, go talk about what you have learned face to face with a friend or family member.

But remember: while we connect online - true connection is in real time in the real world in conversation.

So make the most of your time online and have something to show for it - curate.