Wakelet Content Curation

I/S Digital Literacies: Wakelet

Description

Wakelet is an organization and curation tool. It allows users to compile and store content virtually in a web based application. Content can be URL links, images, videos, PDFs, files, bookmarks and tweets. Creating an account gives users a unique URL to access their content. Multiple users can have access and add content to a collection allowing collaboration. A Wakelet account can store and customize several that can individually be kept public, private, or hidden from others. Content within a collection can be ordered and displayed in a list or in a Pinterest style bulletin board format.

Figure 1. Wakelet Collections

This is a list of curated lesson links. retrieved 2019, November 17. from www.wakelet.com/@waples

Figure 2. Types of Content Wakelet allows multiple types of content to be curated with customized display options.

retrieved 2019, November 17 from from https://wakelet.com/wake/f180d1f6-043b-422f-b838-e80cddff7149

Examples and Rationale

As a teacher I’ve found Wakelet a useful tool for sharing web-based content with a class. Several lessons I’ve created have required students to access multiple websites. My Wakelet site, www.wakelet.com/Waples allows me to control the order and accessibility of my collections easily. Having links curated into one location helps with classroom management, keeping students focused on the assignment during transition periods. Used as a link source for lessons, Wakelet significantly augments the way I'm able to teach as judged by the SAMR framework (Puentedura, 2013) Limited amounts of academic time can be further reduced when teachers don’t employ effective lesson direction and transition strategies (Woolfolk, 2016 p. 517). It also makes it easier to guide students to websites that enhance the lesson and would otherwise be difficult to find.

With the vast amount of data available on the internet, it is important to have an applet like Wakelet to order and organize content (Gonzalez, 2017). Students can work individually or in groups to compile resources for assignments or for personal interest. It can also be used to display classwork for the broader classroom community.

References

Gonzalez, J. (2017, April 15) To boost Higher-Order Thinking, Try Curation. [blog] Cult of Pedagogy. Retrieved from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/curation/

Puentedura, R (2013, January 7) Technology in Education: A Brief Introduction [video] retrieved from https://youtu.be/rMazGEAiZ9c

Woolfolk, A (2017) Educational Psychology. 13th ed. Boston, Ma. Pearson.