by DAN CALLOWAY
Published September 6, 2009
WEAVERVILLE, NC – The term Web 2.0 has been on the scene since the late 1990s. Web 2.0 used to stand for anything on the Internet that was new. It received its first formal recognition as a new term at an O’Reilly Media Live Conference when Dale Dougherty adopted the name to represent those things that typified the post dot-com companies as opposed to those companies that did not survive the bursting of the dot-com bubble.
Unlike the former Web 1.0 platforms where Websites were static and Web browsers, which ran on PCs under Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, took the Internet site visitor to a Website that ran HTML, and didn’t allow the site visitor to interact with the Website itself, Web 2.0 offers the Web as its platform. This new generation of Web 2.0 services runs on the Internet rather than on the user’s computer platform. Under the Web 2.0 concept, companies such as Google, Inc., offer Web services like Google search, ads, maps, and images wherein the Web is the platform—the user’s Web browser is assumed—and the product being offered is a set of services.Web 2.0 allows the user to manage their own data on the Web and, as a result, makes possible such services as Web forums, Discussion boards, Wikis, Hi5, Podcasts, social bookmarking, and Weblogs. This new generation Web has created a worldwide social community that is literally available to anyone with a computer. Some examples of these social networks that are made possible by Web 2.0 are: Flickr, Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Site visitors to these social networking services can setup accounts, post questions, setup their profiles, upload Web 2.0 3 photographs, music, and videos, and interact with other people around the world in a virtual social environment.
The power of Web 2.0 can be seen in its use as a data sharing and collaborative tool for businesses to manage their global projects, and to conduct meetings worldwide without having to necessarily travel to meeting sites. Examples of Web 2.0 collaborative tools in use today are: WiZiQ, EditGrid, Central Desktop, Zimbra, Acrobat.com, Huddle, Mindtouch, CrossLoop, Webasyst, Mindomo, Mindmeister, and HyperOffice, just to name a few. Web 2.0 provides powerful Web conferencing and Teleconferencing capabilities to businesses that allow them to conduct meetings with other companies and business partners on the Web or through the use of Voice-over-IP with video capability so that business travel expenses can be reduced or eliminated altogether.
What impact does Web 2.0 offer to the educational community? Specifically, what use does Web 2.0 have in online distance learning?
[It is our intent] to analyze and evaluate the findings in the literature, predominantly over the past five years, which enumerate the use of Web 2.0 in online distance education. Moreover, we will identify the broad themes in the literature; discuss any biases that might be discovered in the literature; explore the research methods that have been used in researching this topic; determine if these methods are appropriate; what conclusions may have been drawn, and whether these conclusions are valid; and identify any unanswered questions that may exist as well as any additional research opportunities that might present themselves for future research to be conducted in this topic as it relates to the field of education.
If we’ve gotten you excited about reading more on this topic in education then, please click on The use of Web 2.0 in Online Distance Learning to learn more about this fascinating topic through research conducted by Dan Calloway in December, 2008.
