Web 2.0: A meaningless marketing buzzword or the new conventional wisdom?

My Space, You Tube, del.icio.us, blogs, wikis, VOIP, Flikr...... you may well have heard of these on the news and in the papers over the last year. Web 2.0 seems to be everywhere but what actually is it?

There has been a great deal of argument and hot air about what Web 2.0 actually means. Tim O'Reilly coined the term Web 2.0 at a conference way back in 2004 and attempts to clarify what it means here.

Wikipedia the online collaborative encyclopaedia (loved by some and hated by others) describes Web 2.0 as "a supposed second generation of Internet-based services—such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies—that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users." Given that definition, Wikipedia itself is very much Web 2.0.

According to Webopedia, an online dictionary of technology terms (geek speak), Web 2.0 is - "the term given to describe a second generation of the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and share information online. Web 2.0 basically refers to the transition from static HTML Web pages to a more dynamic Web that is more organized and is based on serving Web applications to users. Other improved functionality of Web 2.0 includes open communication with an emphasis on Web-based communities of users, and more open sharing of information. Over time Web 2.0 has been used more as a marketing term than a computer-science-based term. Blogs, wikis, and Web services are all seen as components of Web 2.0."

The Learning Lab has an overview of some of the Web 2.0 tools

So if that's what it is, what can we do with it? How does Web 2.0 relate to university life? For a start you are using Web 2.0 technology now by reading this blog. The resources section of this website contains a wiki and an area within it, 'the Playground', where you can, well, have a play. For librarians what about Library Thing? Here people can connect though the books they read. Does this have implications and applications for university libraries? Then there is the concept of tagging. Democratisation of cataloguing?

In working life group activity is commonplace but group work in universities can often be a problem. How can you tell who did what? How can you ensure that the work is truly a collaborative effort rather than a collection of individual pieces of work. Wikis in particular lend themselves well to group work as Futurelab point out. Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) are also useful in the area collaborative working and can also be used for reflective learning. You can find more information about collaborative and reflective learning the Uses for e-learning section of this site.

This post has barely scratched the surface of what Web 2.0 might be and it's implications. In the past 'Content was king' and whilst content is still important Web 2.0 allows users to have power. Users no longer only have the option of reading or watching what has been created for them but can now create, edit, delete, connect, discuss.......... In the university context if we substitute 'users' for 'learners' in the previous sentence, the implications are great - in both senses of the word.