The Application of Crowd Sourcing in Educational Activities

Purpose—This paper analyses the role of crowdsourcing use in educational activities. In recent decades, the rapid growth of innovative Internet-based information and communication technologies created a new field of opportunities for educational organizations to reach their goals. Crowdsourcing, as defined by Jeff Howe (2006), is the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated employee and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call. The newness of the term indicates that there is not significant literature on the subject of how this operating method is utilized in educational activities. The objective of this paper therefore is to take an exploratory look at how educational organizations are using crowdsourcing as part of their activities at the present time, and to suggest how the practice of crowdsourcing may spread to other educational activities as time goes on.Design/methodology/approach—The paper presents a conceptual model of crowdsourcing application in educational activities. The model is supported by analysis and synthesis of scientific literature and case studies.Findings—Analysis of literature and case studies allowed the creation of a conceptual model which shows the use of crowdsourcing in educational and supporting tasks of organizations. This tool will be helpful for future research on the subject, since it provides a framework of the analysis.Research limitations/implications—The model presented here is a conceptual model and needs to be validated empirically.Practical implications—For practical purposes, the variables proposed in the model would provide a more comprehensive framework for the assessment of crowdsourcing use in education activities and work as a guide for crowdsourcing strategies.Originality/Value—Although the relevant literature consists of many partial and indirect insights and indications in the direction as conceived by the model, the full model as such is original. The authors’ primary contribution is in perceiving the holistic picture of the research subject.Keywords: crowdsourcing, social innovation, social technologies, educational activities.Research type: conceptual paper.