The role of crowdsourcing in healthcare education

St. John-Matthews, Janice; Newton, Phillip; Grant, Andrew; Robinson, Leslie

Abstract

Introduction: Crowdsourcing works through an institution outsourcing a function normally performed by an employee or group of individuals. Within a crowdsource users, known as the crowd, form a community who voluntarily undertake a task which typically involves the pooling of knowledge resources.

Method: A literature review was undertaken to identify how the tool is being used in allied health professions education, and its potential for further use. Academic databases were searched using pre-defined search terms, limits and inclusion criteria. We reviewed the identified papers against an established crowdsourcing definition

Results: Zero articles were returned for allied health professions education. Widening the search to medical education provided 17 papers. Reviewing these yielded four themes: student selection procedures, lesson planning, teaching materials and assessment. In the absence of a suitable framework on crowdsourcing design, these papers highlighted key components of good crowdsourcing technique.

Conclusion: Crowdsourcing is associated with innovative activities through collective solution seeking via a large network of users. It is increasingly being adopted in medical education and maybe transferable to educational activities within health professions education.

Citation

St. John-Matthews, J., Newton, P., Grant, A., & Robinson, L. (2018, March). The role of crowdsourcing in healthcare education. Poster presented at Ottawa-ICME Conference 2018

• Presentation Conference Type: Poster
• Conference Name: Ottawa-ICME Conference 2018
• Start Date: Mar 10, 2018
• End Date: Mar 14, 2018
• Acceptance Date: Jan 4, 2018
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: healthcare education, crowdsourcing, outsourcing, teaching, learning
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Ottawa-ICME 2018