The use of technology to drive learning fascinates me both as a student and as a course developer. I am always looking to for ways, as a student, to use technology to improve my learning. I also constantly seek better avenues to assist students and instructors to improve the learning process.
We live in a world of information. For most of us content and information is at our figure tips 24/7 thanks to the advent of the smart phone. We can find how to videos on YouTube or access great lectures through TedTalks. We have the ability to use a number search engines to find and locate information whenever a question or curiosity captures our interest.
We can connect and communicate through multiple devices and platforms. Adobe connect, Google Hangouts and Big Blue Button are all services that allow use to connect with each other in real time over great distances.
We can exchange thoughts and ideas, learn from one another, and create meaningful projects with services like Dropbox, Wiki Spaces and Google Docs. These collaboration tools are easy to use and give all contributors’ quick access to group work.
The question isn’t if the tools exist that allow learners and instructors new and exciting ways to engage in education. The question is how do we use the available tools to create a learning experiences that works best for us and our learners?
I really like Siemens description of Curatorial Teaching. I think it fits well into our digital world as educators and content creators. We take all these tools and all this content and piece together a presentation that learners can interact with. We give them access to the content, then we allow them the ability to work together to learn from each other guided by the instructor. Through these avenues they experience the content through communication and collaboration for the benefit of everyone involved.
Blogs I replied to:
EDUC 8842/7102: Principles of Distance Education 
I enjoyed reading your blog post. You did a great job of providing specific technology tools and looking at the larger picture of how access to these tools should impact online learning. Do you see Siemens “Curatorial” model as one that should always be used or are there times when another model would be more effective?
Joshua
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Thanks,
As much as the idea of the curator educator I do not believe there is ever a one size fits all approach to learning. So I would say there will be times that other models are appropriate when creating instruction.
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Kayle,
I find Google Docs to be an excellent tool for collaborating with peers. I am on the Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support Team, and we are using Google Docs over summer instead of meeting in person at the school. The tricky part for me is changing from Microsoft Word, a program that I have been using for 20 years, to something easier to use, yet less familiar with.
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