The Internet has changed and impacted every facet of human life.  From fact-checking on Google, to connecting with friends and family on social media, to online banking, online shopping, online research for education, paying bills online and instant messaging through Skype to people on the other side of the globe – it is challenging to think of a way that the Internet hasn’t changed how we interact with others and how we go about our daily lives.  If we trace the history of the Internet, we see that the major innovation of Web 2.0 was that individual users, like you and me, could become creators of content online and this is where platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. really came into their own, because they gave individual users a platform to share their opinions, their views, their skills, with one another.  Despite how this innovation empowered individual users to become content creators, it is the tech companies who have been the greatest benefactors of this innovation - they provide the technology and we provide the content.  We are essentially ‘the product’.  It is worth noting that Google doesn’t create any of the content that you search for – that is created by people.  The same goes for videos on YouTube, funny gifs on Facebook, stories on Snapchat – these are all created by people like you and me.  When we think of the next innovation for the Internet, we talk about the Internet of Things.  This is the next expansion of the Internet, that will bring connectivity to all physical devices with an on/off switch or a battery. Its use in smart homes, wearable tech, tracking of livestock, etc. can already be seen. In the future, it will be used to ensure smart street and traffic lighting; traffic management; health services and waste management in our ‘smart cities’ of the future.

There is no doubt that the power of the Internet has been harnessed to bring information and connectivity to people, 
and to bring big profits to bug business; but so far, the Internet is used primarily by enterprise and less for social services and in general for social good. Before the Internet of Things becomes the next means for corporations to sell us products, it would be good for us to consider what the Internet of Things can do for our society, and for our local community.

You are based in a small rural village, where there is an NGO that works to provide services to your local community. 
(NOTE: While the task is set in a rural community, if learners live in a larger town or city, they can choose to target one specific community or social issue, which an NGO is working with, so that the scale of the task is manageable). Working with this NGO, you will consider your own local area and think of an idea that will harness the potential of the Internet of Things for the benefit of local residents.  Considering that rural communities lack the critical mass of people to provide some basic government services, there is a lot of scope for the Internet of Things to have a positive and substantial impact on the lives of local residents. Once you have completed your research, you will present your idea to representatives of the NGO.  All teams will present to the NGO, but only the winning team will be selected to bring their idea to action and set up a crowd-funding page for their Internet of Things project!

1. Setting up your team!
It is recommended that learners work in groups of 3 or 4 to complete this task – this is to ensure that they have sufficient resources and support to complete this task with the support of a local NGO. Within your class group, assemble a team of your peers to collaborate with so that you can develop your idea for how the Internet of Things can be used for the benefit of the local community and which local NGO you will collaborate with for this activity.  In this step, you may need to conduct some initial research on the different NGOs in your local area.

2. What is the Internet of Things?
Before you begin to develop your idea for how the Internet of Things can be harnessed for the benefit of your local community, it is important that you understand what the Internet of Things refers to.  Simply put, the Internet of Things refers to the concept of taking anything that has a battery or an on/off switch and connecting it to the Internet to ensure better management of resources, provision of services and to help individuals to manage everything from their morning commute to their home heating to monitoring their heartrate and general health, using the Internet and smart devices. For more simple definitions and explanations, see the Useful links section.

3. How will IoT impact us? And how can it benefit communities?
The next step is for you to work with your team to think of ways that your local community can be supported by an innovation linked to the Internet of Things.  In this step, you may decide that the best option is for you and your team to hit the pavement and start canvassing ideas from local residents about how the Internet of Things could be used to improve their lives in the rural community.  However, if you prefer to do some desk-research first, you can find links, which provide examples of how the Internet of Things can be used for social good in the Useful links section.
You and your team should read through these links, talk to local residents and then work together to come up with one good idea that you will use to develop your community-based Internet of Things project.
 
4. Project planning – what do you need? 
Now that you have an idea of how the Internet of Things could be harnessed to improve the quality of life for local residents, it is time for you to plan with your team how you will bring this idea to action.  In this step, you will need to first identify what supports and resources you will need to bring this idea to action and then you will need to set a timeline for delivering this project.

You can find links which will help you and your team to identify and quantify the resources your project needs in the Useful links section.
 
These links will support you to create a project timeline:
·       http://www.bridge-talent.com/blog/setting-timeline-project/
·       https://www.sqa.org.uk/e-learning/ProjMan02CD/page_09.htm

For general instructions on the project planning process,  click here.
Templates for creating a project timeline can be found here.

5. What are the risks involved?
With your project plan in place, the next step is for you to assess if your innovation poses any threats or risks to your local community.  Will this innovation benefit everyone? Will some lose out? What are the consequences of the success or failure of your project?
To help your team to complete this risk assessment, visit the Useful links section which can support you to complete this exercise for your project.

Now that you understand the risks involved in your project, you and your team can complete a risk assessment matrix for your project.  Templates and guidelines are available here. 
 
6. What will be the impact of your innovation?
When you present your project idea to the NGO, they will most likely ask you what the impact of your project will be?  Similarly, in order to successfully market and raise funds for your project through crowd-funding, your potential funders will want to know the impact that this project will have on your local community and why they should invest in your team’s project.  By completing your project plan, you have already set goals and objectives for your project, but how will you estimate the impact of this project and how will you measure if this impact is achieved?  The following links are useful to support you and your team to conduct an impact assessment for your project idea and to understand why this is an important exercise to complete at this stage of your project:
· https://takeitpersonelly.com/2018/03/06/what-is-an-impact-assessment-and-why-is-it-important/
· https://www.iaia.org/news-details.php?ID=30
· http://www.ifrc.org/docs/evaluations/impact-handbook.pdf
Remember, when assessing the impact of your project, a key question that you should try and answer is what would the situation be in your local community if your project is not developed?  This will show the potential impact that your project will have locally!

7. Presenting your Internet of Things Project using Prezi 
Now that you have completed all of the steps above, and your team has fully developed an idea for how the Internet of Things can be harnessed for the benefit of local communities, the next step is to present your idea to representatives from the NGO.  In this assignment, you are in competition with other teams who are presenting their own IoT Project.  As such, it is important that you present your idea, the resources required, risks associated with it and its intended impact in a clear, concise and professional manner. Make your presentation attractive and visual, and create it using templates available through Prezi. 

8. Presenting your idea to the NGO
Now that you and your team have prepared your presentation, it is time that you deliver this presentation to representatives from the local NGO.  For this step, your team should make contact with the NGO and schedule a time of when you can meet with their representative to make this presentation.  As the NGO will be engaged in other activities and may be short on time, it is advised that your team is as flexible as possible with your availability to meet with the NGO and you should offer to go to their premises to deliver the presentation.  Alternatively, if several teams in your class group have chosen to collaborate with the same NGO for this task, consider inviting a representative from the NGO to attend a session with your class where all participating teams can make their presentation to the NGO in one session.   

9. Developing a Kick-starter/GoFundMe Campaign
The winning team in this challenge will now work to develop a Kick-starter or GoFundMe campaign for their Internet of Things project.  Crowd-funding is a relatively new innovation for businesses, individuals and communities to raise funding for projects in various fields including technology, innovation, creativity, social impact and the green economy. It works by creating a profile on an online platform, promoting the campaign through social media and then by raising money through small donations from a large number of people. To create the profile for this project, the winning team should visit one of the following platforms:
·       For Kickstarter, projects should be listed under ‘Design & Tech’: https://www.kickstarter.com/
·       For GoFundMe, projects should be listed under ‘Community’: https://www.gofundme.com/start
For further information on how to garner support for the Internet of Things project and raise the required funding, visit the links listed in the Useful links section.

10. Participating in an assessment:
As an assessment exercise for this Web Quest, we ask all groups to complete a short self-reflection, where each individual member will answer the following questions:
· Where, in this task, did I spot an opportunity?
· Where, in this task, did I take a risk?
· When, in this task, was I creative?
· Was I self-motivated or did others motivate me?
· What was my role in bringing the project from idea to action?
· What would I do differently next time?

After the completion of this webquest, learners:

Knowledge (will have....)	Skills  (will be able to...)	Attitudes (will be able to...)
· Factual knowledge about the Internet of Things · Basic knowledge about how to spot an opportunity · Basic knowledge of how to manage resources for a project · Basic knowledge about how to develop a project timeline · Basic knowledge about how to complete a risk assessment · Basic knowledge about how to set up a crowd funding campaign · Basic knowledge about how to organise a presentation to business. · Basic knowledge of how to make a group a presentation.	· Perform online searches to deepen understanding of Internet of Things and identify how it can be used for social good. · Practice negotiation skills to complete a group-work activity. · Use time management to deliver the project on-time. · Complete a project risk assessment. · Use negotiation and communication skills to work effectively with a team of peers · Practice collaboration with peers to make the group presentation. · Create a project presentation using Prezi. · Create a crowd-funding campaign using a digital platform. · Develop a promotion plan for the crowd-funding campaign.	· Be open to using technology for social good · Take initiative to generate a new project idea that respond to local community needs · Take risks, once they have been assessed · Engage in a self-reflection to assess their own performance in relation to entrepreneurship competence

“A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." - John A. Shedd

To be entrepreneurial means to be brave, to take risks in the pursuit of making a change, having an impact or addressing an issue that you think needs to be addressed.  It is about spotting an opportunity and having the self-efficacy to follow through on it.  It is to be leader, to take the initiative and to be determined to see a project through until completion.
If the Internet of Things is harnessed to its full potential, then the cities of the future will be better connected, more energy efficient and will provide better services to citizens.  Developing a sense of initiative, creativity, and entrepreneurial value will foster the skills in young citizens required to   shape and build these cities of the future.  Having entrepreneurial abilities does not mean that they have to be used for enterprise or entrepreneurship; rather, in this context it means that individuals will be better placed to identify opportunities and develop innovations that will lead to greater societal benefit for communities in the future.  The aim of this Web Quest has been to instil the values, attitudes and behaviours that they will be needed to develop this entrepreneurial mindset, and to introduce you to the endless possibilities that modern technologies offer to our communities. 

 

 

All images used in the Web Quest are available without copyright, sources from www.unsplash.com.