MOOCs and Crowdsourcing: Massive Courses and Massive Resources

Abstract

Premised upon the observation that MOOC and crowdsourcing phenomena share several important characteristics, including IT mediation, large-scale human participation, and varying levels of openness to participants, this work systematizes a comparison of MOOC and crowdsourcing phenomena along these salient dimensions. In doing so, we learn that both domains share further common traits, including similarities in IT structures, knowledge generating capabilities, presence of intermediary service providers, and techniques designed to attract and maintain participant activity. Stemming directly from this analysis, we discuss new directions for future research in both fields and draw out actionable implications for practitioners and researchers in both domains.

Keywords: MOOCs, Crowdsourcing, xMOOCs, cMOOCs, Open Collaboration, Crowdsourcing Tournaments, Virtual Labor Markets, Algorithms, Analytics, Education at Scale, Learning at Scale, Learnersourcing, IT structure, Crowd size, Openness, Intermediation, Extension MOOCs, Connectivist MOOCs, Assessment, Social Media