How to Curate a Learning Path in Catcat

Finally, the main event. Yes, this is the fun part. It's time to curate!

Our platform offers a user-friendly way to assist you in adding your resources, adding content, and sharing your final link with your network. Since Catcat is a platform designed to improve the way the world learns, you should always keep the end-user in mind, even when creating titles for your sections. Remember, your goal is to help the reader identify with the information you've shared. You serve as a guide to help them understand what they should learn from each activity. You have the knowledge and skill-set, now we need you to share what you know while considering the learner (always consider the learner).

Let's take it step by step.  Feel free to skip ahead as needed.

Creating an Account

First, go to catcat.com.

Click on the Red Plus Sign at the bottom right-hand corner of the page. This will prompt you to log-in so you can create a learning path.  You can sign in with your Google account or create a unique log in.  You can also choose your topic areas of interest before you begin.

Adding Content

Next, you can begin adding your content.  Feel free to create your path in any order you choose.  Your progress will be saved and you will be able to edit as you go by logging back in.  Throughout the process, you can always come back and add more to it until you feel it it's ready to publish.

Creating the Title and Section Descriptions

The next steps can be completed in any order.  First, let's edit the title and description section at the top.

Below is a sample title, Understanding Course Effectiveness, and brief description.

Adding Links as Activities

Now let's add links of our curated content. Click on the 'add activity' red button on your screen to add a link (your links are your resources/free, relevant content found on the internet).

Editing Your Links

After you add each link, click on the three dots to the right of the link so you can edit the metadata (fancy words for information the website adds to your path) on the back end. Click 'edit' and here is where you can add value to your learning path.

When you edit your link you are also able to edit the title of the web page if you choose to.  The most important update you will make is to the 'description' and the 'time' sections on this page.   Please make sure the description explains to your audience why you chose this particular resource.  If you want to keep the synopsis that pre-fills in this section please edit it for errors or incomplete sentences. Next type how many minutes it takes you to read or view your resource.  Lastly, please choose the difficulty level of the resource (more on this below) and review the quality of the image.  Scroll to the bottom and click 'save'.   You have just added your first activity to your path!

If you want to know how many activities you should add in each section I suggest you switch hats and assume the role of learner.  If you were clicking on this learning path what information would you need to know to understand this topic?  There isn't a rule, however, there is a sweet spot.  I suggest after you build your first learning path you send it to friends and co-workers to give you feedback so you can edit it and create a better one next time. Remember, always create with your learner in mind.

Section Descriptions

In order to create a description for your section or change the section title simply click in the area and you can simply type.

Also, to add another section title click the grey plus sign next to 'Add a new section' and type it in this space. You can add a description here or include it later.

Add the Topic & Difficulty Level

Once you have added and edited all of your resources and went through your path to ensure it follows a unified narrative (story), go to the right side of the page and click 'Add topic'.  Choose which topic category your learning path is in line with.

Next, choose which 'Difficulty level' your learning path should be considered (from the learner point of view).

If you are wondering how to determine which 'Difficulty level' to choose you can think of it like this: The Beginner level is for those of us who need an introduction to the topic.  The Intermediate level is for learners who already have an understanding of the topic and would like to gain further insight from your learning path.  The Advanced level is for learners who have a thorough understanding of your topic and would like further insight into the subject matter.

Adding Art

Now let's add the art! You can choose any image from the web as long as it is free and open source for general use.  Please make sure all images are appropriate and respectful.  Click on the 'Hero image' pencil within the top banner.  Add your image based on the dimensions provided.  Also, add the image a second time for the mobile version.

After you read over your path several times and feel comfortable presenting your expertise to our community of learners, you are ready to PUBLISH!

If you want to pause in the middle of your path and see how it looks before you publish, click on the arrow in the top left-hand corner.

Congratulations! You have joined our community of Curators to service learners around the globe.