Web 2.0 – A Primer

In case you missed Web 1.0, that is what we used to call the Internet – the world wide web, browsers, virtual classrooms, and the like. Now that we have Web 2.0, all that OLD stuff is Web 1.0. Kind of like WWI was not WWI until there was a WWII. I’m told that actually what’s really cutting edge is Web 3.0 but I have no idea what that is, so you’ll have to go to someone else’s blog for that.

If you want a lot more info on Web 2.0, you can visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0. You can also visit the blog of eLearning expert Tony Karrer of TechEmpower – http://eLearningTech.blogspot.com. Tony presented an excellent session on Web 2.0 at DevLearn 2007. My Web 2.0 blog entries will borrow a lot of information from Tony’s presentation, and in fact that was what inspired this blog in the first place.

So, if you want to be a hit at the next cocktail party … learn some good jokes. But if you want to impress your training department colleagues, here is what I can tell you about Web 2.0. First, the types of things we are talking about are:

• Wikis
• Blogs
• Social networks
• Social bookmarking
• User rating systems
• RSS Feeds / Subscriptions

I will do some separate posts on these topics for those who want a primer from the point of view of someone who is new to this technology. “Beginner’s mind,” we call it. Every good educator is able to look at things from the point of view of someone who knows nothing about it. “Students” we call them.