What does crowdsourcing mean?
Crowdsourcing means open interaction and problem-solving focused on a limited task. Crowdsourcing can be used to produce content for a shared digital platform, evaluate ideas, classify materials or vote among different options, for example.
Groups formed in different ways that have a common interest participate in crowdsourcing. The participation is motivated by promoting a shared cause or benefit gained through work or studies.
Concepts related to crowdsourcing include crowd wisdom, crowd creation and crowdvoting.
Crowdsourcing methods
Content production
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producing shared content, such as text, images and presentations for a digital learning platform
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using cloud services, social media and content sharing services to produce and share content
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chats, virtual discussion forums and electronic bulletin boards in generating shared content
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Brainstorming
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a problem is brought up to be solved by the crowd
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first, ideas are developed and then different options are voted and given a thumbs up
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word clouds and mind maps are created based on key concepts
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ideas are shared and discussed (chats, virtual discussion forums and electronic bulletin boards)
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Categorisation
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Surveys
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asking for opinions
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testing competence
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voting among options
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The ecosystems of working life can be used in crowdsourcing, such as the teachers’ professional, working life and social media networks, as well as similar networks formed by students on their own part. When several networks are combined, the group of crowdsourcing participants expands and becomes more diverse.
Crowdsourcing experiments in the eAMK project
Digital crowdsourcing with Innoduel has been described in the article ‘Ammattikorkeakoulujen eAMK -hankkeessa digitaalinen joukkoistaminen on jo arkipäivää’ (in Finnish). A webinar has also been held on the subject. The Workseed application has been used in practical training, and you can read about the experiences in the article ‘Työharjoittelua ohjaava opettaja ja oppimisen jatkuva dokumentointi’ (in Finnish). The Digipölytys blog post discussed the possibilities of crowdsourcing in an online course.
Tools and channels for crowdsourcing
Crowdsourcing uses different kinds of digital tools, such as voting and survey applications, platforms suitable for joint content production and sharing, social media channels, and tools intended especially for crowdsourcing.
Publications
Muurimäki, R., Simolin, J., Virtanen, M., & Tyrväinen, P. 2017. Digitaalinen joukkoistaminen, case innoduel. https://youtu.be/wcInEgBEXE4.
Ammattikorkeakoulujen eAMK -hankkeessa digitaalinen joukkoistaminen on jo arkipäivää. https://www.itewiki.fi/julkaisu/ammattikorkeakoulujen-eamk-hankkeessa-digitaalinen-joukkoistaminen-on-jo-arkipaivaa.
Liukkonen, J. 2018. Kirjasto- ja tietopalvelun opiskelijat testasivat workseediä. https://www.eamk.fi/fi/digipolytys/kirjasto--ja-tietopalvelun-opiskelijat-testasivat-workseedia/.
Varpelaide, H. 2019. Joukkoistamalla sisältöä verkko-opetukseen. https://www.eamk.fi/fi/digipolytys/joukkoistamalla-sisaltoa-verkko-opetukseen/.
Hakala, A. 2019. Joukkoistettu tulevaisuustyöskentely OPSin osaamisiin. Digipölytys-blogi 2.5.2019.