Some Thoughts on Communities and Crowdsourcing : Some Thoughts on Communities and Crowdsourcing 29 August 2009
ETCon: Communities and the
Power of Crowdsourcing
Who we are : Who we are italki is a...
language learning social network and marketplace
We're a small team
HK company based in Shanghai, China
Launched Dec 2006
Why Communities & Crowdsourcing? : Why Communities & Crowdsourcing? Probably more than most sites, italki depends on its community
Don't have proprietary content or services
italki is a platform
Why language learning : Why language learning We were interested in language learning based on our experiences as students
Language learning is not a typical subject
In addition to knowledge, it takes practice, skill
Playing an instrument
Language learning is about communication
Can't do it alone
Foreign Languages: Problem of Distance : Foreign Languages: Problem of Distance Access to teachers
Opportunities to practice
Study abroad (immersion)
Foreign Languages: Problem of Costs : Foreign Languages: Problem of Costs Language learning for developing world
Cost of distribution
Labor costs
Internet-based Community : Internet-based Community Many people are willing to provide help
Exchange your time, your knowledge
Internet-based
overcome the problem of distance
connect different economies
Platform and Community : Platform and Community Role of the Platform
Help people connect
Help people express their needs
Make it easy for the community to fulfill
Not a replica of your typical social graph
Complementary skills
How do people contribute? : How do people contribute? Community Crowdsourcing
Community features : Community features Language Exchange
Questions and Answers
Groups
How helpful is it? : How helpful is it? Depends on the user
Depends on the community
Depends on how the platform is structured
Keeping the Community Healthy : Keeping the Community Healthy Standard problems
Spammers, Trolls, etc.
Language community problems
International issues
Politics, religion, etc.
What country are you from?
Balance issues
italki user base : italki user base Jan 2007 Jul 2009
Crowdsourcing : Crowdsourcing Improving the site
Translation
Creating content
Using Creative Commons to build free resources
Crowdsourcing: Site Translation : Crowdsourcing: Site Translation Gettting italki into other languages
Work in progress
Quality and speed
Not always at the quality that you want
At the speed that you want
System design is critical
Easy to use, self-healing
Quality control, dealing with vandalism
Crowdsourcing: Creating Content : Crowdsourcing: Creating Content Began as a response from users asking for content
The Dream
Free learning materials
Creative Commons licenses
Universal access, ability to modify, remix
Lots of organizations working around this
MIT Open Courseware (OCR.MIT.EDU)
Connexions (CNX.ORG)
Wikimedia (wikibooks.org)
Experience : Experience Wiki
Uploading documents
A work in progress...
Better than nothing?
Expert vs Community : Expert vs Community Expert is "best answer"
High chance of correct / accurate
Speed depends on personal incentives
Motivations - generally professional
Community is "best effort"
Initially, higher chance for error
Speed depends on size of community, incentives
Motivations - range of motivations
Writing Novels or Encyclopedias? : Writing Novels or Encyclopedias? Can you crowdsource a novel?
Can you outsource "The Great Gatsby" or "The Brothers Karamazov"?
(Would you want to read it?)
Can you crowdsource an encyclopedia?
Wikipedia
(Would you want to use it?)
What about language learning materials?
Crowdsourcing: Future thoughts : Crowdsourcing: Future thoughts Open standards
Not just one community, but also organizations / sites working together
One area where italki could play a role is in localizing and dissemination of those materials
One day we'll have free, high quality, remixable, language learning materials available in every language pair
Thanks : Thanks Kevin Chen
kevin@italki.com
twitter: @italki
http://www.italki.com
http://blog.italki.com