WEB 2.0 IN HIGHER EDUCATION: OPPORTUNITIES ANDCHALLENGES

Senior lecturer Ph.D.

Gabriela GROSSECK

University of the West Timisoara, Romaniaggrosseck@socio.uvt.ro

Abstract. Web 2.0

has been, during the last years, one of the most fashionablewords for a whole range of evolutions regarding the Internet. Although it was identified by the current analysts as the key technology for the next decade, the actors from theeducational field do not really know what Web 2.0 means. They have differentdescriptions/definitions for blog, wiki, podcast, RSS, etc. This paper explores some of the current uses of Web 2.0 tools in education and discusses some of their advantagesand disadvantages. The paper concludes with an invitation addressed to the educationalactors to use these tools in teaching and learning.

Key words:

Web 2.0, education, technologies, blog, wiki, podcast, RSS

WHAT IS WEB 2.0? MAIN FEATURES

The new technologies and services offered by the Internet, genericallycalled

Web 2.0

, refer to the social use of the Web, and allow people to collaborate,to get actively involved in creating content, to generate knowledge and to share(exchange) information online. Less than three years away from the moment inwhich Tim O’Reilly

launched the concept, it is generally acknowledged that Web2.0 is an umbrella term, which includes a very large range of applications andservices which use

the Web as a

unitary

platform

, organized on communication. Onthis platform, the user controls/creates his/her personal data and information, usually by making them available to others by means of some collaborative tools.Specific technologies contributing to Web 2.0 include weblogs (blogs),wikis, syndication of content through RSS, podcasting and videocasting for audioand video content, screencasting, social bookmarking, the sharing of photos andvideos, social software, Web APIs, Web standards, Ajax and others artifacts.Web 2.0 can be described by its main features, but it is not limited to these:

Tim O’Reilly’s articleWhat Is Web 2.0 - Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generationof Software,published in September 2005, is one of the papers which lays the fundaments of the Web 2.0concepts. O’Reilly explains the fact that the term Web 2.0 surfaced in 2004, during a brainstorming between O’Reilly Media and MediaLive International, while organizing a conference about the Web.Whilst trying to find a name, the organizers noticed that, despite the collapse of dotcom, a series of newand valuable Web applications appeared regularly, and they were characterized by users’ collaboration ingenerating content. On the Web2.0 Conference site, the main themes of the presentations can be found. This autumn is dedicated to the fourth edition:Web2.0 Summit.

It is built on an open-source architecture, which encourages active participation on behalf of the users;It allows easy interaction between users with similar interests;It offers users the possibility to generate content (thus becoming ProdUsers

), toshare it with others (democratization and distribution of content). Therefore itoffers a closer interactivity and an experience which is similar to desktopapplications, with intuitive graphical interfaces. These can be programmed, are pleasant and, most of all, are transparent.It facilitates public access to data bases, by means of APIs;It refers to socialization and syndication of information;It uses the power of Internet-users communities;It shows a change in paradigm, as far as the Web is concerned.Among the big players who implemented this technology we mention:Microsoft, Amazon, Yahoo and, of course, Google. At the beginning of 2005, thelater introduced on large scale, by using Ajax, the Web 2.0 version in its applications(GMail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Google Scholar, Google Suggest, GoogleBook Search, Google Maps, Blogger, YouTube etc.).

WEB 2.0 – OPPORTUNITIES AND LIMITATIONS

Obviously, there are both pros and cons to using Web 2.0. We shall mentionthem briefly below:

AdvantagesDisadvantages

reduction of costs;flexibility, as far as the possibility of choosing technologies is concerned;easier and faster access to information,when and where it is needed;the integration of a variety of Web 2.0technologies in the teaching-learningactivities;extensive opportunities of information andcollaboration by the agency of social bookmarking services; possibility to control access to resources by authenticating users;sharing accumulated experiences (blogs,wikis, flickr, youtube) and resources;an Internet connection is required(especially a broadband connection);it hides behind it a sum of technologiesand concepts which are stillinsufficiently defined;it is based on Ajax, which depends on javascript and, therefore, a user without activated javascript, won’t be able to use the respective page;it determines variations of interpretation between types of browsers;it offers free things, in open-sourcestructures, with a rather vaguesignificance;

A.D.Little,

Web-Reloaded. Driving convergence in the real world

http://www.adlittle.com/, 2006, p.10.

independence from the platform (acomputer, with browser and Internetconnection is enough);compatibility with the elements of theeducational field and the existingcontextual dynamics;the low level of complexity needed for use(minimum skills in using the Internet);reliability in continuous usage, over anextended period of time;redistribution of effort, so that less andless time and energy are spent duringsearch and information management(del.icio.us, RSS);the increase in number of modalities of use and the heterogeneity of didactic practices and of types of formation, dueto the diversity of the new technologies;the possibility to test the existing didactic practices, without great changes in thecurrent modus operandi;the major focus on didactic innovation,and not on the technology per se;creating digital content (especially media, podcasting, videocasting).it leads to a low quality of the actualcontent, with sites which struggle indeep informational mediocrity;it promotes amateurishness byinvaluable contents generated byusers;it gives everyone the opportunity tocomplain, thus creating a communitywithout rules;it has monetary quantification (theInternet as a business- Google);it is a kind of second-hand Web, amedium for persons with low digitalabilities;it has limited security;the speed of programs is incomparablylower than the one of desktop programs;it doesn’t mean anything per se, it is just electronic junk;the extremely diversified offer of technologies which can be used andwhich exist on the market at themoment, make the actual selection process difficult;time and knowledge invested in theWeb 2.0 technologies.

BUT HOW DOES WEB 2.0 APPLY TO EDUCATION?

There are already a growing number of educators who are exploring theemerging role of Web 2.0 technologies to transform teaching and learning. It isimportant to realize that students are coming to University already owningsignificant digital competencies and technology, and we need to leverage theserather than constrain them. They often have their own email and instant messagingaccounts, MP3 player, laptop, camera/phone, online identity and perhaps blog.Table 1 renders some of the Web 2.0 technologies which the author of thisarticle often uses as a support tool for preparing and collecting didactic materials,evaluating and analyzing the progress made by students, putting together informative and formative presentations, time management, planning the timetableand the calendar of activities, developing projects in collaboration, etc.