Curation + Aggregation = Confused Station

As I began Unit 2 I realized how "behind the times" I am for a younger, newer teacher. I began drowning in the amounts of information I was finding, reading about, and the sites I was beginning to access. I have never used Feedly, or Symbaloo or accessed any of the blogs and sites others have referred to as being their go to's for information. I am a guilty Google search engine user. I say guilty now because I am aware of how my searches are geared towards me and that I am only seeing a single story, not the whole picture, thanks to the two TED clips (Beware of online "filter bubbles" and The Danger of the Single Story). My eyes are now open and I'm on the hunt to find a curation/magazine tool that works for me and is something that I can balance and utilize for myself, my students and my PLC. 

• What tools have I explored and what made me choose this one? When I'm thinking of sources, what influences my decision?
• The tools that I have currently explored include Feedly and Symbaloo. Within Feedly I have began to access other tools and resources to delve into. I created a content area that I titled EducateME in which I added TEDTalks, Larry Ferlazzo, Free Technology for Teachers, and Edudemic. I know that in our text the suggestion when beginning was to only choose three to seven so as not to create overload, so my hope is that I won't feel bombarded (McLeod & Lehmann, p.43). I chose Feedly as a source to pull information in that would benefit my teaching career, both professionally and in order to serve my students, and it is a method that allows me to choose topics and sites that will send me information. It appeals to me as it brings content, news, and information directly to me. It allows me to look at those pieces in a snapshot view and choose whether or not I go any further. It seems to be quite user friendly and there are several videos on youtube that can be accessed when questions arise. I also chose Symbaloo as a source to organize the many sites I access on a daily basis to browse or use certain features. I can see myself benefitting from this tool as it is visually appealing, easy to access and use, FREE and suits my need for having an organized place for all of the places I like to visit on the web. That being said, it will benefit me greatly when going back and forth between my work and home computer. I will no longer have two separate toolbars with completely different pins that I can't ever remember the direct link to. It's a great solution to your typical bookmarks, or so it seems thus far. I look forward to using both tools throughout the summer to prepare for the upcoming school year and to keep myself educated with current technologies that better serve my students.

• How many of my sources are teachers or practitioners, how many are considered experts, do I have a balance?
• Outside of using my colleagues, my initial sources would include Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, DE and search engines such as Google. With my new outlook on Google and other similar sites, I hope to utilize some of the blogs and videos I have been newly introduced to. Those particular sources that I have chosen are either run by teachers or they are directed toward teachers. I haven't done enough research to know whether or not they are run by experts, but I feel they each have more expertise than I do and will offer powerful search points when I'm looking for something specific. Between my colleagues, my initial sources and the new tools I have come across, I feel I will have a balance and be confident using them as credible resources that provide me with more than one story outside of my general search area.

• How will I look and find sources that will challenge me?    
• My intention is to use Feedly and other blogs to find sources that will continue to challenge me. Thus far, I feel challenged to understand the capacities at which I can use Feedly to broaden my searches, as well as find meaningful sources, other than the ones that Google provides to me based on its algorithm of what I click. My hope will be that the new sources I have found will encourage me to search for others, and that I will have a better understanding of how to go about this process.

I am wondering if there are tips and guidelines that some of you may have as I begin this new process ? I'm anxious and excited to begin this new journey and believe it will greatly benefit me as a learner and teacher. I look forward to reading the various sources my classmates are utilizing and their grasp on them.

McLeod, S., & Lehmann, C. (2012). What school leaders need to know about digital technologies and social media. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.