I would like to know what the BioStar community thinks about the idea of making BioStar an assignment in a bioinformatics course or workshop. I am not suggesting that students would use BioStar to get answers for bioinformatics questions/problems. I think many of us find it a little annoying when people are clearly just trying to get someone else to do their homework. Instead, what I propose is that the assignment would require students to sign up to BioStar and contribute in some way by thinking of a good question, taking a stab at an answer, or voting on answers/questions.
The downside to this, is that you are forcing novices to contribute content where they might not have the necessary expertise. This could be annoying for the community if they feel it brings down the usual caliber of questions/answers. On the other hand, it could be a good way of injecting new life and growing the community.
I would love to hear people's ideas for if/how this might work...
I have often asked folks who work in core-like jobs to do the same. There is an inherent fear or barrier to ask and answer online; breaking those barriers can be constructive for most parties involved.