I think that those of us who spend a good deal of time thinking about and working with technology begin to form different visions for how technology might change things. By a vision, I mean a view of what might be possible, but has yet to be achieved. Some see technology as an inexpensive way to find and access useful information. Others as a way for everyone to offer opinions on the issues that interest them. Probably the vision that most excites me is that of collective intelligence.
By collective intelligence, I mean that each of us knows and can do different things and the combination of such knowledge and skills typically far exceeds what any individual possesses. Wouldn??t it be great, if each of us had some reasonable way to tap into this collective pool of resources.
A great example of a way in which technology allows us to take advantage of collective intelligence is the discussion list. The discussion list is a direct way to tap into the knowledge and skills of a group which shares some common interests. So why don??t more people use discussion lists to address more personal needs. My guess is that there are too many collective costs in the necessary commitments to generate the necessary collective benefits. Perhaps most folks have to sort through too many messages to find something that is useful. In a different situation, there are a few experts and many who feel in need of information. In this case, the experts receive little benefit because there are few opportunities to learn new things and yet there may calls on their time to meet the needs of others. The ??few experts, many in need?? model works in one situation I can think of — the experts benefit because they support novices who use a product. The novices benefit from what the experts have to say. The experts benefit from the sale of their product or at least a product they are associated with and because they learn what makes their product difficult to use and hence how it can be improved.
I have been trying to determine how I might help activate a collective intelligence of some type. I have always felt the faculty members who adopt our books for use in their classes and their students represent a potential collective intelligence. Hear me out — I am not selling anything here. The faculty members have a great deal of experience in teaching this subject matter and perhaps also in related research and practice. If only there were a way for them to share this expertise. It may be useful to the courses they teach. What readings have they found to best supplement the text? What are some great projects for students? At one time, I had hoped to interest such faculty members in allowing me to link to their course syllabus. The idea never really seemed to interest many instructors. I still think it is a good idea and relatively painless.
Here is a related idea. What about sharing a great web resource? We provide access to a database consisting of URLs and short site descriptions — what if people shared a link and a short description. Would this work only if those who contributed could have access?
Maybe I will be able to add more possibilities to my list of ways in which individuals can make a contribution to the collective intelligence with minimal effort. I will let you know. I think this is an idea worth puzzling over.
