Crowdsourcing Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Crowdsourcing - Term Paper Example Basically, the crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving, online and production environment that has appeared in recent years. Some of the well-known instances of this model comprise iStockphoto, Threadless, InnoCentive, the Goldcorp Challenge, and user-generated advertising contests. The term â€Å"crowdsourcing† was first time used in the June 2006 by Jeff Howe and Mark Robinson in an issue of Wired Magazine. Basically, they used this term to outline a modern and innovative online business environment that can be used for the presentation of the innovative solutions of a distributed network of isolated users through what amounts to an open call for proposals. Howe further clarifies this term by providing some details associated with this environment. According to their viewpoint, crowdsourcing refers to the process of an institution or organization getting a task that was previously carried out by its internal team workers or staff members and outsourcing it to an open- ended (and usually huge) group of individuals or teams through an open call. Though, this process can appear in the form of peer-production (where a task is carried out by a team of professionals collaboratively), however it can also be carried out by individuals separately. In this scenario, the key idea is the use of the open call format in order to attract a huge network of possible individuals (Brabham, Crowdsourcing as a Model for Problem Solving: An Introduction and Cases, 2008). Technically, this term can be defined as â€Å"an organization takes the design, constructs it in bulk quantity and trades it.† This process works in a smooth and sequential manner in which, an organization first distributes an issue or problem online or via other channels, after that a large number of people provide solutions and ideas to deal with that specific problem, most effective solutions or ideas are granted some kind of a reward, and the organization that distributed those problems ma kes use of that idea for its own benefit. In their paper (Brabham, Crowdsourcing as a Model for Problem Solving: An Introduction and Cases, 2008) discuss a number of examples to clarify the concept of crowdsourcing. Some of the important cases are outlined below: Threadless The first example that (Brabham, Crowdsourcing as a Model for Problem Solving: An Introduction and Cases, 2008) discussed in their paper is of Threadless.com, which is an internet based t-shirt firm. This firm has successfully utilized the concept of crowdsourcing. This firm basically crowdsources the design method for their shirts by means of a partial online competition. In this competition Jacob DeHart and Jake Nickell took part and Nickell won the competition. The company successfully implemented the designs proposed by contestants. In this scenario, the crowdsourcing model helped the firm in earning considerable revenue. Up till 2006, Threadless was ‘selling more than 60,000 T-shirts per month, and had a profit margin of approximately 35% and was on the right track to gross $18 million, all with only 20 staff members. There are no hard and fast rules for joining the

There is 100 topics to choose from Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

There is 100 topics to choose from - Essay Example E-Learning is a type of education which helps the students to learn with the help of internet and computer. Individuals can access internet and enrol into courses through which they can gain knowledge. The ease of access to educational resources has improved the overall learning environment, while at the same time, there are a number of ethical, social and professional issues that have emerged in parallel with the emerging e-learning facilities as we shall discuss in the following lines. A question arises after reviewing the current situation in the world as to if ‘in the future will people still put pen to paper’ ? (Alan 2007; Rosenberg 2001). Discussion The widespread use of computers in our daily tasks like shopping, education and communication has created a ‘digital divide’ between those who use the modern technologies and those who for some reason or merely lack of interest do not use it. The effects of this ‘digital divide’ are so profound that the life patterns of the two classes show vast differences. Whether used in schools, universities or for professional training at work place, well planned and designed e-learning facilities greatly enhance the learning experience. ... However, while developing an e-leraning application for a college/university, one must consider the associated ethical, professional and social issues (Bruckman 2002; Adelsberger 2008; Rosenberg 2001). Stamatellos (2007) explains some of the ethical issues which are associated with the use of computers and internet in the fields of education, health and business. However, the focus of our study will be limited to the educational field. The ethical issues revolving around e-learning include: computer crime and security, Privacy and Anonymity, intellectual Property, Computer Reliability (Stamatellos, 2007). These ethical issues involve the security threats that exist while working on online databases. Some of these common threats include viruses, hacking software and programs, misuse of information and invasion of private material and illegal use of individual’s information. The laws related to intellectual property are also violated in the e-learning environment, mostly by the students. The plagiarism issue is one of the examples of those law violating activities. Students, teachers and other people are equally at a risk of violating such rights and laws. Computer reliability is another major factor which needs to be considered while designing, or implementing an e-learning application. Since, the data, information and important records are all stored in the computer memory and are uploaded on the websites; there are threats to those records and information. Computer memory is delicate and may be formatted easily. A virus, electricity problem or other issues may erase or end up in erasing the important information stored in computers. However, the information carried on the websites have external threats from hackers and law violators (Cross 2005; Welsh et al