Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is commonly referred to as a second generation of services available on the web, allowing users to do more than just retrieve information. Social software is considered a key web 2.0 development, since it encompasses services which facilitate collaborating, sharing, meeting and communicating with others online. Although much of this activity is currently social, there is a huge education potential in these tools, particularly with students who are not campus-based.

While there is no set definition of Web 2.0, the phrase generally refers to the use of interactive and collaborative web applications as social media platforms, where users participate by generating their own content alongside the content provided by the websites themselves. This characteristic is often stated as being the primary difference between Web 2.0 and the original World Wide Web (Web 1.0).

Web 2.0 applications allow students to easily create their own content and also to actively share information, opinion and support across networks of students. They are relatively easy to use requiring little or no technical expertise and there are many free an Open Source versions availble that offer flexibility and convergence options with a number of systems. In addition, they provide educational opportunities for students ‘any time, any place’. The collaborative and engaging nature of these tools can then be used to support a number of educational processes such as reflection, knowledge building and encouraging student participation and discussion.

Web 2.0 Terminology
Web 2.0 literacy is increasingly important, so here is a glossary of social media terminology to help you get the ‘gist’ of the jargon.

• Tags - The categorization of content by users adding tags (short, usually one-word descriptions or keywords to facilitate searching). As opposed to a classical taxonomy-based categorization system (e.g. MESH), they are usually non-hierarchical, and the vocabulary is open
• Tag Clouds – Give you a visual idea of tag frequency for a blog or other social media site. The more popular a tag, the bigger the text appears in the cloud.
• Folksonomies – These are collections of tags created by many users within a single system
• Syndication – allows websites to ‘push’ new content to users. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works, such as blog entries, news headlines, audio and video in a standardized format. RSS benefits users who want to subscribe to multiple feeds using a feed reader. To provide a single point of access for updates to content from multiple sources. An increasing number of medical journals have RSS feeds available
• Mashup – involve the merging of information from multiple sources. For example, Google maps and BBC traffic data
• Open Source – Open Source refers to software that is available to the general public at no monetary cost. However, there may still be restrictions on what you can and cannot do with the software

Web 2.0 Software Tools
An outline of different social software tools follows. However, it is important to note that there is a growing trend for services which combine different features in one package, such as services which enable you to join online communities, set up blogs and wikis and share photographs all via one website.

Blogs
Blogs (short for ‘weblogs’) are personal websites that allow rapid updating by the author and can be most easily described as a web-based diary. Content can be easily created (listed in date order) and shared. They are designed to be interactive, allowing others to post comments about the blog entries; however, it is usually not possible for anyone to alter the content except the owner. Syndication options enable users to subscribe to blogs and digests. Increasingly, blogs incorporate multimedia, and you can also upload and read them via mobile devices. Examples of blog platforms include: Learning Central, edublogs. Microblogging – allows users to send brief text updates e.g. Twitter.

Wikis
Wikis are similar to blogs but allow the text of the website to be edited by others, with the creation of a common document that can be shared between individuals. Examples of wiki platforms include: Learning Central,  MediaWiki (the platform that wikipedia is based upon). wikis give an opportunity for users with different types of knowledge, confidence and communication to contribute equally to a joint publication. Collaborators who lack confidence to argue a case in a ‘live’ face-to-face debate can feel more comfortable making the same points in a wiki environment where the pace of discussion is slower and the quality of the thinking is more significant than force of personality.

Podcasts
Podcasts are audio recordings made available on the internet, which can be played on computers or downloaded to hand-held devices such as MP3 players, providing the potential for ‘anytime, anywhere’ mobile learning experiences. Users can subscribe to podcasts using RSS feeds, so that any new broadcast in a series is automatically downloaded to their PC or device. Podcasts have been embraced by the education sector, since they offer a lively method of communicating with different audiences – whether for lectures, discussions, audio guides etc…

Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking allows users to save online resources as bookmarks, which can be accessed from any device with an Internet connection, both by the bookmarker and by the wider community. Most  bookmarking sites also allow bookmarks to be tagged to make finding them easier later. In these systems, bookmarks represent ‘links’ to web resources (they do not attach a copy of them). Examples of social bookmarking platforms include: digg, diigo

Media Sharing – Visual media can be uploaded and stored on a website and shared with please ensure that you refer to consent and copyright policies. Examples of media sharing platforms include: Flickr , You Tube

Social Networking – Involves the process of building online communities, often accomplished both through ‘groups’ and ‘friends lists’ that allow greater interaction on websites. Several approaches can be combined in these sites to make them extremely versatile e.g. blogging and file sharing. Examples of social networking platforms include: Cardiff University Connections Service, My Space, Facebook
Social software tools can provide significant support to both traditional teaching and distance education programs by facilitating interaction, collaboration, and the formation of
social networks among students.

Further Resources
Cardiff University Learning and teaching support
Learning Central
JISC e-Learning Programme
Donald Clarke “Don’t lecture me”
JISC Report “Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World”
www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/publications/heweb20rptv1.pdf
HEA e-Learning Programme
JISC Advance – Guide to Digital Media
7things you should know about… Podcasting
7 things you should know about… Blogs
7 things you should know about… Wikis