Collective+Intelligence

= **Harnessing Collective Intelligence to direct Problem-Based learning now and in the future :** =

//Each of them by himself may not be of good quality;but when they all come together it is possible that they may surpass-collectively and as a body, although not individually-the quality of the few best.// **-Aristotle** What Aristotle said so many centuries back, holds true even today and will be more valid in the future. Nobody can deny the power and importance of diversity of thoughts. To solve the problems and ensure that **problem based learning** takes place in real sense in the future classrooms, educators of future will have to accept this fact that different learners have different expertise. The learners of future will learn more and will be able to solve all complex problems if they draw on as many minds as possible rather than relying on one mind. Collaborative work in classroom will ensure that teacher can harness the **collective intelligence** of the learners.



**What is collective intelligence?** Collective intelligence means sharing of knowledge rather than managing the knowledge. According to **MIT Center for Collective Intelligence**, the CI is described as " //groups of individuals doing things collectively that seem intelligent//." The 2008 **Horizon Report** also stated that**- '** Sources of explicit collective intelligence provide opportunities for research and self-study and give students a chance to practice the construction of knowledge—they can contribute as well as consume'. Collective Intelligence is a term for the knowledge embedded within societies or large group of individuals. It can be explicit intelligence or tacit intelligence. Explicit intelligence is in the form of knowledge gathered and recorded by many people. Wikipedia is one such example. Tacit intelligence is the more powerful amongst the two because it results from the data generated by the activities of many people over time. Tacit intelligence is collection of experience,thinking, culture, competence, commitment; hence it is contextual.

**Real World examples of Collective Intelligence :**

**What's the significance of collective intelligence?** media type="youtube" key="NRk49dseRxQ" height="315" width="420" align="right" To teach digitally literate, multitasking and well connected learners of future, the teachers will have to rely on the technology and various gadgets to teach them in their 'digital language'. The video embedded here explains how 'sage on stage' role of educators is not going to work in future classrooms and how collective intelligence works best with a group of divergent thinkers in the classroom who have different ideas of their own to contribute. Diversity of thoughts yields a  better result compared to the solution offered by a single mind.

**Ideas to support collective intelligence in the future classroom:** There are various ways in which collective intelligence can be generated in the classrooms of future. For example, by creating **Class Blog** the learners will get ample opportunities to collaborate and engage in discussions. Creation of **Class Wikis** will enable the learners to work collaboratively so that they can share facts, images, their experiences. One can create a glossary of important terms using it or it can also be used to record experiment data (for science class) and then together all the learners can reach a conclusion for their experiments. Creation of **Class Discussion Board** ( if the internet connection is not accessible for some unknown reasons) is another great way of using collective intelligence of learners. Teachers can let the learners post their answers, reactions, predictions after working together in their groups to compare the thoughts, opinions and ideas. Last but not least the **Group work** in the form of inquiry, projects or investigation will give a boost to collective intelligence.

**Result of engendering collective intelligence****:** There are many benefits of stimulating collective intelligence. The learners of future can survive in the unpredictable job market on the basis of their creative skills. Since collective intelligence gives a boost to the creativity of the learners therefore it will equip the learners with the necessary skills. Collective Intelligence utilizes the talent of all the learners and ensures participation as well as collaboration by everyone in the classroom; thus even the shy ones will also get an opportunity to contribute their ideas. We can say with great confidence that the future classrooms will be utilizing and relying on the collective intelligence of all learners who will eagerly share their ideas, views, thoughts with the rest of the world.

Since learners, educators, pedagogy... will be very different in 2025 from what they are today, therefore it is understood that assessments must also change to do justice to these changes. On the next page, the assessments of future are discussed in detail.