Upgrading 5400 years old tech: tools for better reading and understanding curation in learning

Upgrading 5400 years old tech: tools for better reading and understanding curation in learning

Reading, a skill invented 5400 years ago along with writing, has remained relatively unchanged since its inception. With the average person reading at a speed of 250 words per minute (wpm), it is still the most efficient way to absorb information. However, the way we approach reading and the tools we use to enhance our reading experience have evolved over time.

In his meta-book "How to Read a Book," Mortimer Adler introduces different methods of reading: inspectional reading, analytical reading, and synoptical reading. Each method serves a specific purpose in extracting information and gaining a deeper understanding of a text. These techniques can be useful in today's digital age where information overload is a common challenge.

One tool that has emerged in recent years to aid in reading and comprehension is the social reading plugin. It allows readers to connect with others, share thoughts and insights, and create a community around a particular text. This social reading trend is here to stay and is just getting started.

Curation, on the other hand, has been a fundamental part of human information recording since the beginning. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, envisioned the internet as a platform that allows anyone to access, disseminate, and organize documents. Digital curation is the starting point for individuals to take control of the vast amount of digital content available and organize it into meaningful collections.

Digital curation has the power to generate social engagement and discussion, as seen in the work of Clay Shirky. However, there is a challenge of filter failure, where the abundance of information leads to individuals not paying attention to any of it. This situation can be categorized into two types of overload: situational overload and ambient overload.

Situational overload is like searching for a needle in a haystack. You need a specific piece of information buried among a lot of other information. Ambient overload, on the other hand, is being faced with a haystack-sized pile of needles that you want to engage with. With the advancement of filters, we are provided with more and more of what we want, contributing to this overload.

To address these challenges, digital curation acts as an intermediate layer between the search engine and the information consumer. It helps individuals find relevant and useful content easily, supporting them just in time or just in case. Learners, in particular, can benefit from the use of digital curation to navigate through overwhelming amounts of information and find the most relevant learning content.