What is Web 2.0 and why should we care?
I think for those of us now, we don't really think about Web 1.0 because we have been in the Web 2.0 world for more than 10 years now. So what is this things we are dealing with? Taking a cue from Tim O'Reilly who originated the term, it's about a few things: interaction, production, seamless application, and easy use. Web 2.0 is highly interactive and invites people to take part not just as readers or consumers but as writers or producers.
Why I see this important in education is because students are often treated liked only consumers: they have to learn what we have to teach. But they are also used to interacting and answering back. How can we reconcile these matters in classrooms. Realistically through class discussions, but most of those, studies show, are glorified "tell the teacher what she wants to hear" sessions and not true discussions (IRE - Initiate-Response-Evaluate). Maybe using blogs or other networking ideas we can allow for more thoughtful interaction. Also maybe we will figure out such work may work better than cramming a whole bunch of standards down students throats...
If you want a lot more on O'Reilly's thoughts (and I do mean a lot, this page is HUGE and DETAILED), check out this link.
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