Joining the Wakelet Wave

If you're like me, you've probably seen a little bit of the #wakeletwave when surfing through your Twitter newsfeed.  I discovered Wakelet about a year ago as educators started suggesting it as an alternative to Padlet when Padlet's pricing changed.  For a while, I used Wakelet solely on a personal level, almost as an alternative to creating yet another Pinterest board.  However, after talking with Wakelet team member @Cnight97 and playing around with its features a bit more, I'm ready to say that Wakelet is one of my favorite teaching tools of the 2018-2019 school year.  Here are a few ways that Wakelet has added value to my instruction:

Sharing resources with students

I am all about teaching our students to use good search strategies (explained more below), but sometimes, it's important to get students going with resources that have already been teacher- or librarian-vetted.  For example, after talking with students about usage rights for online images, I like to give them some tried-and-true places to look.  This is the perfect spot for Wakelet to work its magic, especially since a well-done Collection looks like a professional website; have a look at this example to get the idea:  



Gone are the days that I need to use a Google Doc with a bland list of URLs and resources; instead, I can make resources easily accessible and look super appealing, all with the click of a button with the Wakelet Chrome extension.  Whether I'm sharing resources for a citation breakout room, encouraging students to try different search strategies, or leading a PD on the best ways to collaborate with your librarian, I've found Wakelet to be an easy way to provide links to all kinds of content.

Teaching curation skills

I'm definitely not the first person to say this, but I am a champion of the idea that today's digital citizens need to learn strategies to filter the information overload that is the internet.  Without these skills, students are susceptible to fake news, internet hoaxes, or simply giving up in the face of a barrage of media.  For that reason, my students practice curation quite a bit before we ever start to call it "research."  When 9th grade students finish their first choice novel, they curate a collection of further reading resources that could entice another reader to check out their book; when 10th graders are choosing classes for their junior year, they curate a selection of sources that prove to their parents that the choices they are making for next year will positively impact their post-secondary plans.  Wakelet is a perfect vehicle for this type of assignment.  Have students who are creating a presentation that involve researching outside sources?  Consider having them create a Wakelet Collection with the presentation at the top, followed by the sources (and an explanation of each of the sources) below.  It's a nice, visual way to show students the power of building a list of resources, and it also makes sharing resources between students easy as well.  For more ideas, check out the Wakelet Explore feature.

Saving all kinds of content

One quick thing that makes Wakelet stand out for me is the ability to quickly add all kinds of content.  Adding the Chrome extension and the mobile app makes it super efficient for me to save URLs, videos, tweets, images, and more.  If you're like me and find tons of awesome ideas through Twitter and then promptly lose those ideas, Wakelet is a perfect solution for you.  (By the way, if you're NOT like me and DON'T use Twitter for all the awesome ideas, check out the #tlchat, #ditchbook, #greatschoollibraries, and #gttribe hashtags to get some great ideas flowing!)

The team

The last thing I'll mention about Wakelet is that their team is super responsive.  When I was first dipping my toe into the #wakeletwave and hadn't yet considered all of its superpowers, one of their awesome team members, Callum Nightingale, spent some time with me via Google Hangouts to share ideas on how Wakelet could work in my collaborations; later, when I was setting up resources to share with my faculty, all it took was a Twitter DM to get an answer for how to use one of the new features.  With weekly e-mails chock full of ideas coming to Wakelet community members, a rich Twitter community, and new Pro Tips shared each day, there's no shortage of ways to level up your Wakelet game.

Librarians have always focused on curating the best resources for our faculty and students.  There's never been a better time to pass that skill on to our communities, and Wakelet is a great tool in that process.  Hope you enjoy riding the wave!

Love,
Your Library