Research

Research questions

  1. What learning strategies do crowdworkers use, and why and how do they use these strategies to organise and direct their own learning within crowdwork platforms?
  2. How do the different types of crowdwork – microwork and online freelancing – and the associated platforms (structure, design and nature of work tasks offered) impact learning?
  3. Which key individual and environmental factors are essential to productive learning within crowdwork and how these affect crowdworkers’ learning (as perceived by workers themselves)?
  4. How could work processes within crowdwork platforms be redesigned to foster learning?
  5. What are the roles of different key stakeholders – the worker, the platform provider, the client/task requester, and the policymakers – in fostering learning within crowdwork settings?

Methodology

Several quantitative and qualitative methods are combined to help generate rich descriptions and case examples of crowdworkers’ learning strategies and practices, elucidating individual and environmental factors affecting learning and the complexities of underlying choices and motivations. First, participants’ self-regulatory learning strategies, workplace learning activities and work tasks are scoped using an extant survey instrument, Self-Regulated Learning at Work Questionnaire, SRLWQ (Fontana et al., 2015). Second, the survey is supplemented by semi-structured biographical interviews to ascertain crowdworkers’ learning pathways, relevant educational and work experiences, current skills and learning goals. Third, interviews are combined with field visits to conduct ethnographic observations of crowdworkers’ local contexts and to collect data on specific SRL learning process in situ using SRL microanalysis (Cleary et al, 2012).  Fourth, representatives of crowdwork platforms and selected clients/task requesters are interviewed to contextualise crowdworkers’ perspectives. Fifth, extant training and development provisions and other kinds of support for workers’ learning that may be offered by CrowdFlower and Upwork are analysed.  Sixth, online ethnography within several key online discussion fora and social media spaces used by crowdworkers and clients/task requesters is conducted in order to identify patterns of learning-related activities and strategies.

Key expected outcomes

  • Typology of learning activities and strategies applicable to crowdwork settings
  • Rich descriptions and case studies of crowdworkers’ learning practices
  • A descriptive model of key individual and environmental factors underpinning learning in crowdwork settings
  • Policy and practice recommendations for fostering learning within crowdwork platforms