What are Web 2.0 technologies?

I asked this question because I really only had a vague idea of what Web 2.0 technologies referred to.  I must say that I know more now than what I did.

As stated in a reading by Conole  (2010), the term Web 2.0 was defined by Tim O’ Reilly as emerging tools and services that make the web more participatory rather than the web been a source of information.  More simplistically, Wheeler (2012) says that Web 1.0 technology was about downloads and Web 2.0 technologies are about uploads.  O’ Reilly (2005) says the Web 2.0 technologies are characterised by user-generated content and peer critiquing.  The common features are that they all require active participation and incorporate collective intelligence through social aggregation of resources (Canole, 2010).

The Web 2.0 era is seen as adding value and has made it possible for mass  self -publication.  People everywhere are using the web to broadcast, publish, share ideas, be creative.  It has allowed for natural, progressive engagement within online participatory media culture (Wheeler, 2012). Wheeler also states that Web 2.0 technologies require the adoption of a new mind-set and a new culture for many professionals – the culture of Web 2.0.  He further states that it’s important to recognise the significance of each tool and how each can be used effectively in all variations and also its combinations with other tools.

According to O’Reilly (2005), Web 2.0 technologies ‘embrace the power of the web to harness collective intelligiences’.  He suggests that there are certain characteristics collated together in the table below.

Web 2.0 characteristics	Example
1. The web is now viewed as a platform that has ‘a set of principles and practices’ that bring things together	E,g Google as a platform has enabled many participatory features
2. Tools that allow the ‘collection of intelligences’ e.g hyperlinking, google, yahoo, ebay, Wikipedia, flickr	Hyperlinking-allows for web connections Yahoo – search engines plus it has moved into creating different types of content – portals of collective work Google – uses the link structure of the web to provide better research results Ebay – growth in response to user activity with a commercial base Amazon – online selling but also encourages participation with product reviews.  Uses this activity to produce better results Wikipedia – online encyclopedia – entry’s added by web user-participatory for content creation Flickr – form of collaborative catergorization Allows  for Tagging-which is overlapping of catergorizing Blogging-defined simply as a personal home page in diary format. Web developers are aiming to create a blogosphere which is type of global brain where there is constant mental chatter. RSS-subscribes user to a page, receive notification if any changes. Users can also access others sites, comments and see who else has links to their pages Mash-ups –using sound, videos, images, text to create  entirely new content
3. Specialised databases	Living laboratories – sharing research etc
4. Users become ‘co-developers’	Open source development Constant ‘re-builds’ of major sites e.g hourly
5. Software can be used over multiple devices	More devices can be connected to a single platform

 References

Canole,G. (2010) Facilitating new forms of discourse for learning and teaching: harnessing the power of Web 2.0 practices, Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning, 25:2, 141 -151
O’Reilly, T. (2005) What is Web 2.0 ?  Retrieved 16.03.2014 from http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html
Wheeler, S. (2012)  Digital literacies for engagement in emerging online cultures. eLC Research Paper Series, 5 (1), 14-25.

http://web2teacher.blogspot.co.nz/

 

"I have daughters at secondary school and a grandson that has just started school. I observe what their world is like.  It's very much like the one depicted in this video clip. The kids in this clip looked bored and so unhappy, disengaged in the current education system. 

   I want my family, my students,  to be switched on, engaged and enthusiastic about learning.  I want to be switched on, engaged and able to connect with them in the 21st century."

This is my second year in the Masters of Adult Literacy and Numeracy degree.  I work in the School of English at MIT  teaching ESOL Literacy to  migrants  and refugees.  Currently I am a Programme Leader and are responsible for TEC funded places, namely Intensive Literacy and Numeracy, Targeted ESOL and Refugee funded places.  I am based at the Otara campus but also work at the Newmarket campus.