Abstract:

Sparked is a non-profit organization started by 9 students from Alberta, Canada. We're in school every day. And every day, we see the kids that school has failed. The kids who are staggeringly good at something - people just don't see it yet. Those people will never know what they're missing, and those kids will never get their chance to shine, unless we do something.

But what can we do? We have plenty of talented, capable educators and students, but they have their own curriculum and school work that has to get done. Work that helps students learn, but other than that, doesn’t do a whole lot. It’s just practice.

What if the work students did in class wasn't just practice? What if it changed lives?

Sparked is a tool for teachers, students, and parents to unlock the potential in every student. We’re building an online environment where students can learn alongside a diverse community, and make the world a better place, all at the same time; a system to harness the work done in classrooms everyday as a force for the future.

Sparked is an online website that anyone can access. Through this website you can develop projects to share with your learning community, online or not. These projects are based on any topic (and a few basic criteria) and can be used in endless situations, bringing collaborative project based learning into the classroom, the home, and anywhere else you can think of.

Our team has gotten to do things that not a lot of other kids get to do. We’ve spoken at international conferences, advised top government officials, and even helped to design over 20 real schools. We’ve met a lot of people. The more people we meet, the more we believe in one simple truth: Everyone is staggeringly good at something. Everyone is good at different things.

We’re starting Sparked with a simple mission: Unlock the genius in every kid.

Not all students learn the same or excel in the same type of learning environment, and yet our education system is built so students sit in their desks, do a worksheet, and take a written test with a #2 pencil. But no matter how different, every kid should get the chance to shine. And we can give it to them, together.

Here a presentation our team member recently gave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEpAPxpMv04

This is our current website:http://www.sparkedfoundation.com

Here’s our current prototype of the web service (this video was only meant for internal use, so it’s a bit unpolished).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_oP2nuuFQU&feature=youtu.be

Keywords:

Innovation, teacher tools, project based learning.