You've probably heard of "crowdsourcing," the very 21st-century term coined in 2006 in Wired magazine. This new word, a twist on the idea of outsourcing, describes the practice of posing a question or challenge to the public, and asking for individuals to contribute a small piece to the project goal. Successful examples of online crowdsourcing include Kickstarter, a fundraising website for individual projects; National Geographic's own search for the tomb of Genghis Khan; and the uber crowdsourcing phenomenon, Wikipedia.All of which is to say, the concept and practice of crowdsourcing has found a place in 21st-century society. But recently, I've started noticing a crowdsourcing niche, one that has yet to be named but I believe deserves to be singled out as its own phenomenon. Let me give you some examples.
The revolutionary documentary A Simple Question tells the story of a classroom turned community activist. It all started in Laurette Rogers' fourth grade classroom when, after watching a film on endangered species, a student asked what she could do to help. Seizing the opportunity, their teacher conceived a project that utilized her students' energy, intelligence, and time. Together, they identified a threatened species of shrimp native to the local streams of the area. This habitat was eroding due to agricultural development (probably livestock management). Students collaborated with scientists and ranchers to understand the problem and develop a solution: plant trees to stabilize the waterways and offer shade for cattle. They fulfilled the mission by raising funds to purchase trees, and then planting the trees with the help of friends, family, and community members.
Then there's Nat Geo's own BioBlitz, a ten-year collaboration with the National Park Service. A BioBlitz is a great adventure in which students and scientists join forces to identify species in our national parks. Together, they observe, identify, and record plants, animals, insects, and birds, generating valuable data for use by the Park Service. This year's BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park included the discovery of a microscopic creature called a tardigrade, or water bear, that was not previously known to exist in the park. This information fills gaps in the rangers' knowledge of the overall ecosystem of the region. The bioblitz concept can be applied on any scale--from a schoolyard to a backyard to a neighborhood park or even inside a classroom. In every case, the practice of observing closely and documenting what living creatures were found in a specific place at a specific time is a valuable experience for both the individual and for those who will access the data in the future.
To map and archive the data collected by the students and other participants, BioBlitz uses FieldScope, an online interactive GIS mapping tool. (FieldScope is also used by students who take field trips to the Chesapeake Bay watershed to gather data including oxygen levels, pH balance, temperature and biotic communities.)
So what is the common thread through these crowdsourced undertakings? Exactly: kids.
What is the wave of the future? Kid-sourcing.
Think about it: On one hand, we have 55 million kids going to school every day, trying to acquire 21st-century skills like self-management, problem-solving, decision-making, and communication, that will prepare them for a rapidly changing future. On the other hand, we have profound challenges facing our communities, from water shortages to aging infrastructure to erratic weather to shifting population dynamics. These problems are hugely daunting when considered on a global level, but taken down to the local level, there is a chance that some progress can be made to prepare for or recover from these challenges.
At the National Council for Geographic Education conference earlier this year, I noticed that the walls were covered with fascinating posters illustrating research on geographic topics like energy, population, recycling, and natural disasters. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that these professional-looking posters had been produced by high school students as entries into the NCGE Map Gallery contest (coordinated by Anita Palmer). To create each poster, students used geographic inquiry--a step-by-step process to identify, research, and analyze information, with the goal of making wise decisions and taking healthy actions. One of the posters used geographic inquiry to identify the best locations for solar farms in the northeastern U.S. By calculating GIS data sets such as land costs, distance to population, and photovoltaic intensity, the student produced a short list of suitable options. The student also noted that, while these locations were the best available, solar power is not yet cost-effective as a large-scale replacement for fossil fuels, but may be useful on a smaller scale. This realization is a valuable lesson as well, like those learned in research and development, and through the scientific method: not all theories pan out like you think they will. But in a classroom, the primary goal is educating the individual, not testing a theory or developing a product. In this case, the student gained valuable math, science, geography, and economic information skills, as well as 21st-century skills and strategies. (NCGE is accepting entries for 2012 here.)
Clearly, students are uniquely positioned to offer incredible contributions to their communities: they have the potential for focused passion, boundless energy, and perhaps most importantly, lots and lots of time. Whereas many would-be activists are unable to make time away from the pull of family and work, students have at least seven hours every day, nine months out of the year, to dedicate to learning. Students can fully explore a problem, research it from all angles, and develop and test innovative and unusual potential solutions, with the guidance of a teacher or informal educator. (The student engagement that results from such project-based learning has been proven to improve classroom management, by the way.) A fully realized community project not only can, but must incorporate elements of all subjects, from writing letters and proposals and calculating data to illustrating project plans and mapping activity locations. Of course, this is not to say that kid-sourced projects should replace an entire curriculum, but rather to recognize the incredible opportunity offered by actively engaging students, classrooms, teachers, and schools in community planning.
A search for the phrase "kid-sourced" and "kid-sourcing" on the Internet yielded results oriented toward the business community: various opportunities to integrate children into a family business, efforts to use kids and youths as test-groups for marketing agencies, and even a fictitious parental outsourcing company. This last example is the opposite of education, where information is extracted from kids in order to create products that are more desirable and profitable. Let's reclaim kid-sourcing as a force for good that empowers students, encourages communities, and enriches lives.
The bottom line: Incorporating community-oriented projects into classroom instruction is a win-win for students and citizens. But you don't have to take my word for it.
What examples of kid-sourcing have you seen? Have you ever been part of a kid-sourced project? Are you a community organizer who has an idea for a project that could be kid-sourced? Please comment!
Poster by Eric Cawa, Loudin Academy of Science, Courtesy NCGE Map Gallery Contest
Photo by Audrey Kanekoa-Madrid
Post by Alison Michel, Producer for National Geographic Education
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