Web 2.0 Defined Essay Example for Free

Web 2.0 Defined Essay Web 2. 0 has been identified with the pronounced difference involving functionality and the current advances in web technology that makes it possible to develop innovative business models and processes based on these modular structures. This has been already used in education such as online learning tools and models. Web 2. 0 has also been able to modify the way web content has been stored, organized and properly categorized. Lastly, the development of Web 2. 0 has also contributed significantly to the rise of economic value of the internet that may possibly exceed the impact of the dot com (OReilly, 2006). Earlier users of the phrase Web 2. 0 employed it as a synonym for Semantic Web. The combination of social-networking systems such as FOAF and XFN with the development of tag-based folksonomies, delivered through blogs and wikis, sets up a basis for a semantic web environment. Tim OReilly regards Web 2. 0 as business embracing the web as a platform and utilising its strengths (global audiences, for example). OReilly considers that Eric Schmidts abridged slogan, dont fight the Internet, encompasses the essence of Web 2. 0 building applications and services around the unique features of the Internet, as opposed to building applications and expecting the Internet to suit as a platform (effectively fighting the Internet). Unlike Web 1. 0, Web 2. 0 is a bit of a catch-all which covers a broad rang of new online services, user-generated content, communities and social networking tools. Tim OReillys definition of Web 2. 0 in his Radar web column (OReilly 2005) is a comprehensive description of what Web 2. 0 is. Web 2.0 was described as a compilation of economic, social, and technology trends that when pooled together cohesively creates the foundation for the development of the next level of the internet a more mature, distinctive medium characterized by a high degree of participation among the people, directness, and network effect. The definition originated during a brainstorming session between OReilly Media_ and MediaLive executives in 2004. OReilly (2005) has also created a famous meme-map_, which attempts the central work of defining the interlocking elements of web 2. 0. The core value of web 2. 0 is the development of a solid set of technologies. OReilly also introduces all the major planks of this vision of the next generation of the web as a set of best practices from the first generation. However, Gartenberg (2006) speaking on a postcast_ indicates Web 2. 0 means different things to different people, and there-in lies the difficulty of trying to define clearly a term that it far more a marketing term than a technical term (Gartenberg 2006). OReilly (2006) in his Commencement Speech at UC Berkley_, explained that the genuine Web 2.0 application is the one where there is a proportionality between the number of users and the development of the application. Because of this, it is argued that the core value of Web 2. 0 is being able to effectively harness the innovativeness of everyone in the group. This kind of development is a step forward as compared to the previous state of the internet where the Web as a platform remained a baffling mess of buzzwords with no real clarity. Spolsky(2005) agreed with this stating that Web 2. 0 is a big, vague, nebulous cloud of pure architectural nothingness and that when people use the term Web 2. 0, I always feel a little bit stupider for the rest of the day. Although this is obviously true, in this specific sense, the concept of the Web 2. 0 application is nothing new at all to the World Wide Web. The term Web 2. 0 is used when a read-write aspect of the Web is used in a participatory way that actually creates greater shared knowledge for all. It was the widespread adoption of blogs, wikis, MySpace and other read-write techniques that ushered in a common I-write-and-everyone-reads-it usage pattern (Hinchcliffe 2006). Figure 2. 1 is a mind map outlining some of the major concepts and technologies which contribute to Web 2. 0. _ Fig 2. 1: Web 2. 0 Technologies Mind Map Web 2. 0 Applications There are number of applications that demonstrate the foundations and the functionalities of the Web 2. 0 concept. The following discussion is a list of popular Web 2. 0 applications and how it is integrated already in society. Blogs The concept of Weblog or Blogging has been defined by Drezner and Farrell (2004) as A web page with minimal to no external editing, providing on-line commentary, periodically updated and presented in reverse chronological order, with hyperlinks to other online sources. Yet even though this definition exists, other researchers such as Nardi et al (2004) express that weblogs currently accessible in the internet have a great diversity that is there is not a single dominant style of activity in the net. Others (Dyrud , Worley Quible, 2005) agree with this but on the hand, they expressed that there is something common to all blogs and that is they are primarily a venue in order to share information (regardless of the amount and manner) between people, groups, and organizations. According to Blood (2000) there are essentially two types of weblog: those that emphasize the diary and comment aspect, and those that emphasize hyperlinks. The former may seek to influence wider public opinion, or merely to raise the profile of the blogger; the latter act as a filter system, looking at what exists on the Web and recommending content that might be of interest to visitors. If bloggers make mistakes in the information they publish, they rely on their peers to point out any errors (Johnson and Kaye 2004) this sentence is very stand alone you may wish to introduce the idea of authority of authority of Web 2.0 technologies (which will presumably covered again in Wikis etc) . Thus, Blogs have unique features that traditional web media does not have. About 2. 7 million bloggers update their blogs at least weekly. According to Technorati, new blog creation continues to grow Figure X shows the number of new blogs created each day, from January 2004 to January 2006: _ Figure 2: New blogs (taken from Technoroati) _ As was mentioned above, there are various types of blogs and each variation provides the information to the user as different as possible. Factors to be considered are the type of the media to be used in order to transfer the information, the device that is used, the genre, the legal status of the publishers, blog search engines, and blogging communities and directories. One varying consideration to blogs is the kind of media that is used in order to share the message from the person/organization that would want to give the message to the recipient of the message. Take for example; a video blog is called a vlog, a blog that is comprised of links to other sites or networks is called a linklog. Another kind of blog that contains a series of sets of sketches is called a sketchblog and another type similar to a sketchblog is called a photoblog one that comprises of photos being shared, uploaded and downloaded. Another type of media that is currently being used by blogs is the tumbleblogs that have shorted posts and mixed media types. The other forms of media currently existing in blogs are called artlogs that is practically a form of blog that shares art and publishes it over the internet. The second point for consideration is the blogs genres. Some blogs are more focused on a specific type of subject such as blogs focused on the environment, travel, politics, nature, academic work, technology, etc. Each blog naturally has a specific genre that it revolves around. In the case for education, educational blogs focus on a particular topic or issue for the students or the researchers. This helps in narrowing down the topic field at the same time helps the users in being able to have a more focused blog where they can extrapolate vital information and not be flooded with unnecessary information that would not be useful to the students and researchers (Kline Burstein, 2005). Blogs can be classified as legal or rather private, or it can be public. The difference between the two is accessibility. In the case for private blogs, these blogs are used internally within organizations or within groups. One trait for this kind of blog is its restriction on accessibility. Public blogs offer free and unrestricted access to most if not all users in the web. They are given the opportunity to download, upload and communicate information using these blogs. Both blogs have been used in education as a means in order to distribute effectively information within the personnel of institutions (Hinchcliffe, 2006). In case for private blogs, educational institutions utilize these kind of blogs within their intranet infrastructure whereas public blogs are used for providing free and unrestricted education to those that do not have accessibility or the opportunity to access that kind of education (Kline Burstein, 2005). A considerable number of blogs are used also as search engines in order to find and identify specific items within the internet. These web 2. 0 applications are used in order to tag and categorize specific blog postings and information within the community or within the internet and flag them to the user. Lastly, blogs are used as a means of being able to communicate between people and organizations across distances. Blogs have the capacity to load directories, profiles and information of specific organizations or communities and can be accessed (depending on the restrictions imposed within the site) by the people using it. Wikis The original wiki, The Portland Pattern Repository (Portland pattern repository, n.d) was created by Full Name Cunningham in 1995 (c2. com/cgi. wiki? WikiHistory reference properly if there is no author use the title of the page The definition of a wiki is a webpage or set of webpages that can be easily edited by anyone who is allowed access (Edersbach et al. ,2006_). The overriding goal of a wiki is to become a shared repository of knowledge with the knowledge base growing over time (Godwin-Jones, 2003). Chawner and Lewis (2004) noted that a wiki is an example of social software, a type of software that makes it easy for groups of people to work in a virtual environment. However, Viegas , Wattenberg and Dave (2004) indicate that wikis are vulnerable to malicious edits or vandalism, which can be a problem at may levels. However, Cych (2006) argues that acts of vandalism and mistakes are rectified quite quickly by the self-moderation processes at work (a couple of sentences expanding on this issue is needed here if I were you Id try and refer to something which discusses the accuracy of wikipedia against the encyclopeadia britannica). As an alternative to the global editing of wikis, restricting access to registered users only is often used for professional, work group wikis. One of the great features of a wiki is its capacity to be able easily editable. A wiki has the capacity to be able to be edited collaboratively rather the information presented in wikis have the option to be edited or added utilizing a very rudimentary mark-up computer code that would use a internet explorer or browser. Broken down, one page within a wiki is referred by many as a wiki page as compared to the entire set of wiki pages is called a wiki when taken into consideration (Cunningham Leuf 2001). Thus, it can be generalized that a wiki is a collection of information where contributors can contribute collectively and users can access freely information. This has been proven as one of the most accessible or effective web 2. 0 applications in providing accessible and affordable information to students and researchers. One characteristic of a wiki that has made it so popular in sharing and communicating information to students is its ease of usability. Students need not have a degree in computer science or web applications but rather just the passion of sharing intuition and a little bit of patience in order to learn the scripts involved in the programming. They are free and without any need for registration so that users need not have the need to register or pay any amount (Aigrain 2003). It also offers real-time editing and creation so it provides the opportunity for students, researchers and faculty with much needed time as they acquire, research, and provide information within the educational institution. To summarize, unlike blogs, Wikis tend to be more structured and flexible,and, while blogs can be highly personal, wikis are intensely collaborative (Godwin-Jones, 2003). Social networking technologies (Myspace, Facebook, Flickr †¦. ) A social network service existing within the internet is created for the purpose of being able to create, develop an online community and confirm the legitimacy of its members. These communities, as was explained in blogs and their genres have a common trait which is mainly the reason why these people collectively group themselves together and form a social network based on the internet (Hinchcliffe, 2006). They are either grouped because of their desire to share their interests, activities, goals and passions in life. They are able to share this passion using the means of the internet as a medium of expression, particularly with the use of social networking services. One such social network that can be utilized is Myspace. In Myspace, as a new person joins a social networking site, other users of the site also benefit. Once the Network Effect begins to build and people become aware of the increase in a services popularity, a product often takes off very rapidly in a marketplace. MySpace membership rose to a reported 87 million_. You need to expand this to include some academic literature on social networking technologies. Impact of web2. 0 on the way people interact Web 2. 0 in practice is as mentioned by OReilly (2005) is a medium through which society can exchange (upload and download) information and interact with each other as never before offered by the Internet. This was further asserted by Boyd (2003) that wrote an article describing social software supporting the desire of individuals to affiliate, their desire to be pulled into groups to achieve their personal goals. On the other hand, Berners-Lee (1999 p. 157) talks about the information space as something to which everyone has immediate and intuitive access, and not just to browse ,but to create. Today, many people are setting up and writing blogs and working together to create information through the use of wikis, blogs and MySpace. Web 2. 0 software has emerged to facilitate new activities, and encourages a more human approach to interactivity on the Web. Web 2. 0 has become a tool that mainly focuses on providing opportunities for people or groups to maximize the Web in delivering information (conversations, data, etc. ) to and fro users. As Abaram (2005) claims, the social web is about conversations, personalization and individualism. It is interesting that it has been referred to as a People-Centric Web (Robinson 2005). Thus, With Web 2. 0 technologies you not only get the results of knowledge stored in a searchable fashion, but you also get the process of creating the knowledge made observable (McAffee 2006). Learning and Teaching Social software is being used by many individuals in Higher. As such it seems possible that students are likely to engage with these technologies and that they therefore may have potential for changing the way of teaching and learning. Collaborative learning is an activity where learners who are brought together through the Internet focus on working together as a learning community in which they share resources , knowledge, experiences and responsibilities (Maged N. Wheelert 2007). Need a discussion of why collaborative learning is useful. One of the potential impacts of social software on education was carried out by the Nesta-funded Future Lab project. The report called Social Software and Learning which was researched and created by Owen et al. (2006) was able to evaluate and review the developing trends in education and had indicated that learning will be more open, and that in schools and colleges, there is a greater emphasis on lifelong leaning and supporting the development of young peoples skills in creativity and innovation. On the other hand, Maloney (2007) realized that there are challenges that are now evident on how to figure out how to incorporate the paradigm-altering technologies of Web 2. 0 into teaching and learning and to maximize it potential in delivering information and promoting interactivity. One of these opportunities is On-line course-management. Maloney (2007) indicates that the most significant problem with course-management systems is that they are built around the credit-based courses and is not founded on the individual student. Although social tools are enabling users to rapidly connect with each other. But the challenge that that is now presented to most researchers in the field of Web 2. 0 integration to education and learning is being able to figure out a manner in incorporating the paradigm-altering technologies of Web 2. 0 into teaching and learning. Take for instance the example of Constitution High School where students are already heavily engaged in Web 2.0 technologies through social networking websites such as MySpace (Strike the Tent 2006). They articulated a vision, planned curriculum, designed assessment rubrics, debated discipline policies, and even hammered out daily schedules using the sort of networking tools messaging, file swapping, idea sharing, and blogging. Within High Education, Blogs seem to be the most commonly used by students as an assessed reflective diary . Tutors could use a blog to share annotated weblinks or links to news items which students can follow up as they have the opportunity (Report of the Information Services Working Group on Collaborative Tools 2006). The University of Warwick in UK has used Blogging software in this way. They have provided Blogging facilities to allow staff and students to create their personal pages. The intention is that the system will have a variety of education-related uses such as developing essay plans, creating photo galleries and recording personal development_. Wikis have also been used for educational purposes, according to report by Anderson (2007) wikis have been used at the University of Arizonas Learning Technologies Centre to help students on an information studies course who were enrolled remotely from across the USA. These students collated data individually but then worked together to build a wiki-based glossary. The resulting dataset was then shared and analyzed by the group (Glogoff, 2006). At the State University of New York, the Geneseo Collaborative Writing Project deploys wikis to support student work. The Wikis are used to track the ongoing development and evolution of projects, share ideas, and improve their research and communication skills collectively. Wiki-style technology has also been used in a tool developed at Oxford University to support teachers with design for learning.