The Wisdom of the Crowd: A Crowdsourcing Approach to Compiling a Directory of Teaching and Learning Tools

How much wisdom is out there in the crowd? How do we avail of this for educational purposes - and, indeed, should we? The concept of crowdsourcing generally refers to the act of outsourcing a function or task to an undefined... [ view full abstract ]

How much wisdom is out there in the crowd? How do we avail of this for educational purposes - and, indeed, should we? The concept of crowdsourcing generally refers to the act of outsourcing a function or task to an undefined (and generally large) network of people in the form of an open call (Howe, 2006). While some argue that crowdsourcing has proven more effective in its original business context than it has in that of education (Foulger, 2014), the term has nevertheless gained traction with regard to a number of evolving conversations pertaining to digital learning and education. This includes discussions relating to open education, an increased focus on participatory experiences, and reconceptualising the role of students from consumers to producers of content. Crowdsourcing enables access to a potentially global range and diversity of locations, opinions and problem-solving options, as well as providing a means of voicing opinions that otherwise might not be shared or obtainable (Paulin & Haythornthwaite, 2016). It holds the potential to assimilate many small contributions into resources of high quality (Cornelli & Mikroyannidis, 2012) and even to challenge well-established norms regarding how scholarship is disseminated, negotiated and evaluated (Veletsianos, 2013).

Set against this backdrop of potentials and practices, this paper reports on one year-long open crowdsourcing initiative (“Project 252”) which was conceptualised to compile an A-Z directory of edtech tools for teaching and learning through collaborative contributions. It considers the design, implementation and management of this particular project, as well as the challenges and potentials arising from the approach taken. The paper will report on initial findings and reflections upon conclusion of the project, and possible avenues for further enhancement and dissemination of the crowdsourced repository.