Curation Tools

           Until this week, I had never really thought about using Pinterest as a classroom resource.  However, now that I have seen some examples, like this one on Tapas http://pinterest.com/leticiaclen/tapas/  by Leticia Clendenen, I am starting to see some the potential.  Pinterest allows a presenter to present information in a wide variety of formats about a collection of related, but varied topics, and the resources can vary in depth and detail of explanation.  Allowing students to explore a set of pre-selected resources and allowing them to choose which ones to investigate is a great way to present differentiated information without singling out students as remedial and advanced. 

          In particular, I like the idea of using Pinterest when the goal is to expose students to a broader theme.  Sometimes, it is important to give students a general idea of what there is to know, but it is not essential that they all recall a particular set of facts.  Next year, I would like to try using Pinterest to curate information about Hispanic cities.  I really don’t like the way we teach culture now, because we just teach it by the book.  The book has decided what is important for everyone, but if each of us were to plan trips to visit any particular city, I am certain that few of us would plan identical itineraries.  I would love to take a harbor tour in Valparaiso and stop at a seafood restaurant, but someone else might be fascinated by Bernardo O’Higgins and want to spend more time at the history museum.  We could approximate this freedom of choice by using Pinterest to curate resources that will allow students to virtually explore the city. Students could click through it to get an idea of some of the features and attractions in the city, but then spend their time learning about the particular aspects that are interesting to them.  Not only that, but they can select the presentation methods that are best for them.  If they like videos, they can watch videos, if they want to see stills of well-known locations, murals, paintings, etc., they can do that.  If they want to read, they can read about what interests them.

          The assessment would have to reflect this variability. Students could be asked to recall a few essential facts, such as the geographic location of the city or type of currency, but then other prompts would have to be open-ended.  For example, students could be asked to describe three tourist attractions they would choose to visit if they went to this city, or describe three cultural experiences (food, festivals, dance) that they would choose to take part in.  For the open-ended responses, a basic rubric should be provided so that students can determine the level of detail expected in their responses.  Rather than asking students to recall specific facts like the name of a particular museum, or even what is on display, it is much more important to me that they know about the many opportunities that these places have to offer.