Web 2.0 Tools in Higher Education

Further intensifying the role that the internet plays in academic communities and instruction, a broad spectrum of new web applications—grouped under the general term Web 2.0—has fundamentally transformed the way in which web technology is being utilized. Where the internet traditionally allowed comparatively few people (web developers) to post information for everyone to access, Web 2.0 allows everyone to post information for everyone to access. Such tools as blogs, wikis, podcasts, social networking sites and video posting sites have created a world-wide dialogue that allows the average person to use the internet not only as a source of information but also as a medium to contribute their own knowledge and opinions and collaborate with others.

Recognizing that Web 2.0 tools have the potential to enrich the learning environment, educators have started using Web 2.0 in instructional design. By allowing both instructors and students to actively contribute to the world-wide dialogue on the internet, Web 2.0 applications have obvious benefits to learning and scholarship. But despite these benefits, they present new challenges to educators concerned with the way students learn, how the academic community collaborates, how intellectual property is defined, and how student privacy can be protected in a virtual environment.

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