Photo by Vincos courtesy of a Creative Commons license

What is Web 2.0?

The term is accredited to Tim O'Reilly, during a conference brainstorming session in response to the dot-com burst of 2001. One of the key components of Web 2.0 is the idea of the 'web as platform' where people can collaborate, communicate and participate. In this initial brainstorming session the focus was on business applications. Because of the controversy about what O'Reilly meant, or if there is such a thing as "Web 2.0" he clarified his definition in a late 2006:

"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them. (This is what I've elsewhere called "harnessing collective intelligence.)"

Similarly, Brian Alexander describes the variety of this terminus in and its possible pedagogical impact: "Web 2.0: A New Innovation for Teaching and Learning":

"The term is audacious: Web 2.0. It assumes a certain interpretation of Web history, including enough progress in certain directions to trigger a succession. [...] Many people—including, or perhaps especially, supporters—critique the “Web 2.0” moniker for definitional reasons. Few can agree on even the general outlines of Web 2.0. It is about no single new development. Moreover, the term is often applied to a heterogeneous mix of relatively familiar and also very emergent technologies."

For further explanation about what Web 2.0 is, take a look to this voicethread created by Quentin D'Souza and Rob De Lorenzo, titled Web 2.0 Promises and Potentials. Itself a good example of Web 2.0 possibilities. (It includes visuals and audio).

The following six Web 2.0 related categories "Collaborative Editing", "Digital Storytelling", "Mashups", "Presentation Tools", "Social Networking", and "Digital Storytelling" provide insight into pedagogical ideas as discussed in our class "Beyond Web CT: Integrating Social Networking Tools into Language & Culture Classes" at the University of Connecticut.