We realize that the equivalent of a library sits in the palm of student’s hands. We are beginning to see the associated cognitive burdens and costs that certain students have to bare when given access to a wealth of information.

Become a curator

“Curators” aim to create a buffer between over-abundance of information and our working memory. Online curation tools allow an academic to put selected content into a context, organise and annotate the information and then share it with students.

We believe that curation tools offer lecturers and students a means to collect critical and up-to-date works, a hub from where these seminal and supplementary work can be accessed, and an order or sequence.

When curation is associated with Open Education Resources (OER), content becomes available at lower costs. Students are offered a richer media experience and begin to see where they have come from and where they are expected to go.

Copyright

Academics need to be aware of copyright and licensing status on all materials used in their courses. OERs are educational materials that either have an open licence (like creative commons) or reside in the public domain. OERs can be legally used, adapted and reshared at little to no cost, thus allowing students access to up-to-date, relevant and accessible subject material.

I see how students become overwhelmed with information. Their attention is affected by this cognitive load. I’ve taken to curating my course materials. Information is arranged and tagged according to date, unit or subject.