Collective intelligence (CI) in education is an emerging concept that has the potential to revolutionize the way we think about teaching and learning. Collective intelligence refers to the collective knowledge, skills, and abilities of a group of people working together to solve a problem or achieve a goal. It is based on the idea that individuals can learn from each other and share their knowledge in order to create something greater than any one person could do alone.

The use of collective intelligence in education has many potential benefits. For example, it can help foster collaboration between students and teachers, allowing them to work together more effectively. It can also provide students with access to a wider range of resources and ideas than they would have access to on their own. Additionally, collective intelligence can help reduce teacher workloads by allowing teachers to focus on more important tasks such as providing personalized instruction or developing innovative teaching strategies.

Collective intelligence also has the potential to improve student engagement and motivation by providing students with an opportunity to work together towards a common goal. By working together, students can develop stronger relationships with each other as well as with their teachers. This increased sense of community can lead to increased student engagement and motivation which can ultimately lead to better academic performance.
Examples of CI:
1. Online Communities: Online communities such as Reddit, Quora, and Stack Exchange are examples of collective intelligence. These websites allow users to ask questions and get answers from a large group of people with different perspectives and expertise.
2. Crowdsourcing: Crowdsourcing is a form of collective intelligence where tasks are outsourced to a large group of people who work together to solve a problem or complete a task. Examples include Amazon Mechanical Turk and Topcoder.

Needless to say, every concept has its merits and demerits that can define and draw the lines to which application is obstructed or at least made difficult. The following sheds light at the pros and cons of CI in an educational setting.
Pros:
1. Increased Efficiency: Collective intelligence can help organizations make decisions more quickly and efficiently by leveraging the collective knowledge of a group. This can lead to better decision-making and improved productivity.
2. Increased Collaboration: Collective intelligence encourages collaboration between individuals, teams, and departments, which can lead to increased innovation and creativity. This can result in better products and services for customers.
Cons:
1. Privacy Concerns: Collective intelligence may raise privacy concerns as it involves sharing personal information with a group of people or an organization. This could potentially lead to misuse of data or other security risks if not managed properly.
2. Bias: Collective intelligence may be subject to bias due to the influence of certain individuals in the group or due to the lack of diversity in the group’s composition (e.g., gender, race, etc.). This could potentially lead to poor decision-making if not managed properly.

Finally, collective intelligence in education can help create an environment where everyone feels valued and respected for their contributions. This type of environment encourages creativity and innovation which are essential for success in today’s world. By creating an atmosphere where everyone feels appreciated for their efforts, students will be more likely to take risks and explore new ideas which could lead to breakthroughs in learning outcomes.