Swarm+Sketch

**__Swarm Sketch__** described as " //Collective sketching of the collective consciousness//."
"SwarmSketch is an ongoing online canvas that explores the possibilities of distributed design by the masses. Each week it randomly chooses a popular search term which becomes the sketch subject for the week. In this way, the collective is sketching what the collective thought was important each week. A new sketch begins after one week, or after the previous sketch reaches one thousand lines, whichever comes first. Each user can contribute a small amount of line per visit, then they are given the opportunity to vote on the opacity of lines submitted by other users. By voting, users moderate the input of other users, judging the quality of each line. The darkness of each line is the average of all its previous votes." __**Resources links and/or class examples:**__ = =

__**Strengths**__
 * The site is free
 * no registration required
 * updates weekly
 * available for participation 24/7
 * keeps archives
 * has links to more resources
 * has great statistics about each sketch, including countries of participation
 * can view history of each sketch as it progresses

__**Weaknesses**__
 * not able to contribute to ideas of what to sketch
 * limited colors, very muted
 * limited concepts of 'art'
 * collective consciousness usually a topic not addressed in k-12 subjects

__**Opportunities**__
 * students express individual creativity collectively
 * able to watch progress of sketch and multiple sketch
 * great way to conceptualize the collective consciousness

__**Threats**__
 * could have inappropriate context
 * could get students off topic
 * might not be a stable site, only being running for 1,747 days as of today.

__**Ideas for the classroom**__
 * using in introducing subjects in psychology like Jungian archetypes.
 * helping students to conceptualize ideas of the collective consciousness, typically a difficult task.