Content Creation vs. Content Curation

Since the LMS arena has kicked off, the debate between content creation and curation has erupted at the forefront. So, which one is the right option for you? Getting to it, let us briefly understand content creation vs. content curation:

• Content creation
  • It is the act of developing your content from scratch. The content then needs to reach the learners to develop their knowledge or skills.
• Content curation
  • It comes into play when you want to give your followers some learning content created by external sources available through your Learning Management System or through a collaboration agreement.

Created content

This represents an original piece of work or learning content. It can be a self-directed online course, virtual instructor led training, in-person training or a mix of those such as a blended learning program. As a content creator you have to consider what kind of content you want to deliver. Learning content is just one option. If you are considering becoming a content creator, you may want to consider the responsibilities that come with it. Creation renders ownership. It also represents that your company has unique expertise, insights and solutions. The uniqueness demonstrates thought leadership and helps boost credibility. As a learning content provider you need to have the appropriate systems to provide access to your training. In some instances, you may also use this content as an excellent lead magnet.

Curated content

Curated content comes from external sources. In this, you can choose the relevant resources and offer the learning to your staff, clients or collaborators. It demonstrates that you recognize the value created by other companies in the industry. You are tapping into the know-how of experts to provide value to your audience. Curated content may be available through your Learning Management System as a plug-in or as native content. Alternatively, you may choose to source learning content customized to your organizatrion’s needs from a variety of suppliers. Let’s say you need leadership training for your executive team, communications training for your managers and team members and technical training for your front-line workers. Generic training courses are available through a large number of suppliers. You just need to source it and make sure your teams will get access to it by linking to the programs from your LMS or intranet.

To summarize

Content creation helps with customized training required by your audience that you or your organization is particularly qualified to train. For Professional Advisors, learning content created by them also is demonstrating thought leadership. On the other hand, curation renders learning content that you source from other experts, leading to time-saving and greater efficiencies.

So what should you choose?

Depending on your training objectives, your in-house skill level and funds available you may choose content creation to demonstrate your expertise or curation to source learning from other experts. To determine which solution is best for you, you need to identify your training objectives, resources and know-how available. In the end, you may choose a combination of curated and created content. So, if you want your company and employees to grow through training programs, you may very well need to mix both these types. While there are compelling reasons to incorporate both, the development of online courses (creation) is undeniably the better option. Anything original will always stand out.

Improve online learning by combining both

Note that both content creation and curation contribute to eLearning. The advantages of such online programs are:

• Learners can get the best learning experience from both in-house and external experts
• External content enriches the training program while providing greater efficiencies in the creation process
• In-house and external content provide greater insights by demonstrating different view points.

How do you get started?

To get started identify your learning objectives. Being truthful, determine if you have the best resources in-house to develop effective training to achieve these objectives or if that subject matter expert is best found outside of your organization. An independent learning and development consultant may be able to provide a neutral perspective and support your team in the creation or curation of the content to achieve the best results. To learn more, contact us for a no-obligation consultation.