--- title: Increase Your Impact with Technology description: How can we ensure that we are using the right tools to engage our communities and collectively make change? Find out how you can increase your impact with tech image: https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/Tamarack_New_Website/Latest_/Phones1.jpg --- [![20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Administration/Tamarack%20Logos/20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png?width=200&height=47&name=20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange.png "20yrLogo-2_WhiteOrange")](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/?hsLang=en-us) # Increase Your Impact with Technology Posted on January 22, 2016 [By Megan Wanless](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/author/megan-wanless) - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) A group of people wait together on a chilly day for the morning bus. No one speaks, but instead each individual has their head buried in their device, fully consumed in the technology at their fingertips. An email, the morning news, a podcast - whatever it may be, their energy and focus is spoken for. For many, this all too familiar picture depicts an image of **total disengagement** - human beings isolated from one another while occupying the very same street corner. However, as we enter 2016 it is becoming increasingly apparent that the technology that looks to divide us, may actually have the potential to bring us closer together. ![Phones1.jpg](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Tamarack_New_Website/Latest_/Phones1.jpg?width=320&name=Phones1.jpg) ***"Studies show that a community's sense of belonging is directly connected with their ability to understand and help shape the vision for their community." Lisa Attygalle, Tamarack Institute*** While fifteen years ago, we didn't have a platform for the majority of people in a community to come together to share their ideas and opinions - outside of calling a town hall or walking door to door. Today 85% of us have smartphones and people are more engaged than ever when it comes to making their opinions heard. **In this age of technology and connectivity, everyone has a platform and everyone has a voice. **So how can we ensure we are not only a part of the conversation to collectively make change in our communities but that we are using the right tools to do so?  - To get the scoop on how technology has changed the way we engage community check out Lisa Attygalle's [How Technology Improves Community Engagement](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/Events/Community_Engagement/How_Technology_Improves_Community_Engagement.pdf?t=1454008607143&hsLang=en-us) - To hear the case for a collective approach to digital transformation in the social sector read [Tech for Common Good](http://www.thinknpc.org/publications/tech-for-common-good/) shared by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC) - Learn about the Knight Foundation's belief in how [technology has the power to transform our democracy](http://knightfoundation.org/digitalcitizenship/) Happy browsing! Topics: [Community Engagement](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/community-engagement), [Megan Wanless](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/topic/megan-wanless) ![Megan Wanless](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/hubfs/Headshots/Team_Headshots/Megan%20Headshot_Square.jpg) ### By [Megan Wanless](https://www.tamarackcommunity.ca/latest/author/megan-wanless) Megan is a Senior Community Animator at the Tamarack Institute and works across the organization to improve and deepen the learning experience for over 27,000 members within Tamarack’s learning communities and online platforms. Having worked with Tamarack for over 5 years, Megan oversees key strategic areas for the organization including strategic learning, content production and events. Prior to Tamarack, Megan worked in the field of international development, earning a Master of Social Science degree from the University of Edinburgh and worked in Malawi to engage with communities around sexual and reproductive rights using applied theatre. With a Bachelor Arts Degree in Theatre, Megan has been leveraging theatre as a tool for community change for many years and has had the pleasure of practicing it in communities within Canada as well as South Africa, Uganda and Malawi. 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