Crowdsourcing is powerful stuff. We all know more than any one of us knows.
It can be overwhelming to keep up with all of the emerging technology even in a (relatively) niche industry like education. So why not use crowdsourcing to try?
To keep up with available technology that exists to address problems in education, and how it’s being used in formal learning environments?
Many times the technology is there, but no one knows about it. It then sits dormant, closes shop, and creates the perception that it was never in demand to begin with.
On a conceptual level, every successful product fills a need. That’s what makes it successful. While not all problems can be solved by technology–in fact, one could argue that it can create as many as solves–the idea here is to take stock with what’s available, and have a quick look to see how it does and does not solve the problem it was designed to.
And sometimes see what it may end up doing even better instead.
So let’s try a sample post to see how this works. And if it doesn’t, we’ll pretend it never happened.
Examples
Problem: People need to navigate through their smartphones
Solution: Google Maps
Problem: Typing on digital keyboards is a pain
Solution: Voice activation a la Siri
Problem: Computers are awesome but cumbersome
Solution: the iPad
Now, your turn in the comments section:
Problem: Educators connecting with communities
Solution: (your answer goes here)
Some follow-up questions:
What’s out there?
How’s it being used?
Have a link?
How does it succeed and fail in filling that need?
How does it improve on previous technologies designed to perform the same task?
How can one technology–designed to do X–somehow do Y and Z better?
