Web 2.0 and Beyond

Children and teens live media-saturated lives, spending several hours per day engaged with cell phones, computers, and other multimedia. Frequently, their time is spent using Web 2.0 tools: highly interactive technologies and participatory spaces that are open, collaborative, and distributed. Examples of Web 2.0 tools include wikis, blogs, social networking sites, video or image sharing sites, multiplayer video games, and texting applications (apps). Contrary to stereotypical views of such technologies as nonacademic pastimes, these tools are full of possibilities for powerful, engaged learning that connects students’ academic work to their everyday lives. A growing body of scholarship suggests that participatory culture can help children and adolescents master core academic subjects as they develop proficiency with technology for communication, collaboration, research, and creation of new works. Because they are specifically designed for sharing information and ideas, Web 2.0 tools are ideal for building relationships that can sometimes extend beyond the school walls to include friends, peers, teachers, and subject matter experts. Through these interactions, students learn to analyze and evaluate evidence and alternative points of view, and to synthesize and make connections between information and arguments. They become part of a collective knowledge community where they assume shared responsibility for posing and solving problems in creative, collaborative ways. Participation in these interactive spaces encourages students to take risks and engage in friendly competition but also to collaborate with others and learn flexibility in decision making. This, in turn, advances academic goals by increasing student engagement, boosting comprehension, and facilitating inquiry-oriented learning. In the process, students learn how to be safe, ethical, responsible citizens in online environments.

Web 2.0 tools are usually cloud-based, allowing users to utilize resources on demand and to download, create, or remix content, and upload it to a shared resource pool for others to use. Web 2.0 applications are increasingly being designed for use with multifunction mobile devices (e.g., cell phones, tablets, iPads). Many of these tools are browser- and device-neutral, meaning that they allow users to access, edit, and share electronic content from any computer or device with an Internet connection. And because the infrastructure for these electronic tools is virtual, they typically do not require the hardware and other networking components such as stand-alone servers, connecting wires, cooling systems, and such, to operate.

In Web 2.0 settings, control of content is decentralized and nonhierarchical: All users are allowed to create, publish, and share information. Web 2.0 is sometimes referred to as the read-and-write Web because it facilitates interactions and interconnections between users and content using text, images, sound, video, and animation. The term Web 2.0 is not tied to specific technologies, applications, or practices. Rather, the term broadly refers to a wide range of interactive communication tools and spaces. This entry explores the use of Web 2.0 in education, including accessibility, engagement, and achievement, and discusses benefits, challenges, and future directions.