We live in a time of paradox. Never have we had access to so much information — and never has it been so difficult to distinguish what is reliable from what deceives. For those working in educational settings, this tension is part of daily life: students arrive laden with content consumed on social media, frequently without any critical filter, and it falls to educators to help them navigate an ecosystem where an abundance of data rarely equates to knowledge.
It was precisely from this observation that, in partnership with Ana Paula Ferreira, I developed Digital Curation in Education: Towards Meaningful Learning — a book that seeks to address one of the most pressing challenges in contemporary education: how to transform information overload into meaningful learning.
Curating is not aggregating: an essential distinction
Digital curation is not to be confused with a list of favourites or the passive accumulation of resources. It is an intentional process — of research, selection, contextualisation, and sharing — guided by a clear pedagogical purpose. This distinction is central to the book: curating is interpreting, choosing with discernment and justifying that choice. It is, in essence, teaching people to think.
This reconfiguration of teaching practice leads to a redefinition of the teacher’s very role. By practising curation, the educator ceases to be a mere transmitter of information and becomes what we describe as a knowledge curator — someone who guides learners through the complexity of the digital world, lending meaning and coherence to what would otherwise be mere noise.
The urgency of combating “Infoxication”
One of the book’s structuring concepts is that of infoxication — the intoxication caused by information overload. In a context where disinformation spreads at a pace that outstrips any attempt at correction, curation emerges as an indispensable defence mechanism. This need is not limited to students: teachers themselves are confronted daily with the demand to carry out this triage before any pedagogical interaction.
The book argues that this competency should be structural in teacher education — not an optional best practice, but a fundamental twenty-first-century literacy. In the context of the school library, this idea acquires particular relevance: the teacher-librarian is, by nature and function, a curator of knowledge. Naming that identity with intentionality is, in itself, both a pedagogical and a professional act.
Tools, strategies, and the practical dimension
The applied dimension of the book constitutes one of its most immediate contributions. Tools such as Wakelet, Padlet, and Pinterest are presented not as ends in themselves, but within a pedagogical framework that guides their use. What is proposed is not the use of technology for technology’s sake, but an understanding of how each tool can serve a specific and contextualised educational intention.
The educator as meta-curator in the Age of AI
The chapter devoted to Artificial Intelligence is, perhaps, the most timely and the most demanding. It introduces the concept of the meta-curator: the educator who, when faced with suggestions produced by generative AI systems, exercises critical judgement over the machines’ own outputs. At a time when these tools are entering schools rapidly and not always with appropriate mediation, this proposition is both necessary and urgent. AI can enhance and amplify curation practice, but it cannot replace the human perspective that lends it meaning and ethical responsibility.
A transformative vision of the classroom
Digital Curation in Education is not a technical manual. It is a proposal for transformation — of pedagogical practices, professional identities, and the relationship we establish with knowledge in the digital age. The vision running through it is that of a classroom reimagined as a curation studio: a collaborative and dynamic space where teachers and learners construct knowledge together, critically and intentionally.
It is intended for educators, educational policymakers, students, and all those seeking informed responses to the challenges of our time. Because curating, at its core, is a form of caring — for knowledge, for learners, and for the quality of what we teach.
Get the book
Digital Curation in Education: Towards Meaningful Learning is available across multiple platforms. Access it here: books2read.com/b/bonMAL
About the authors
Jorge Borges is a teacher in primary and secondary education. He was director of the Malha Atlântica ICT Competence Centre, a teacher trainer, a member of the Computers, Networks and Internet in Schools Mission Team (eCRIE) and of the Educational Resources and Technologies Team (ERTE), a coordinator of national and European projects, and a member of the sectoral teams of the Technological Plan for Education.
He has been a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, and a member of the office of the School Libraries Network, where he also served as inter-
municipal coordinator. He currently works at Escola Básica 2-3 Conde de Oeiras.
Ana Paula Ferreira holds a PhD in Educational Sciences from NOVA University Lisbon and a first degree in Modern Languages and Literatures from the University of Lisbon. She also holds a postgraduate qualification in the Training of Trainers and a specialist qualification in the Management and Coordination of Educational Resource Centres. She is the author of publications in the fields of education, assessment, school libraries, educational technology and artificial intelligence. For further information on publications and research: ORCID – https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0411-8917
Conteúdo relacionado:
