Critique of Web 2.0 and Its Implications for Education
By: Lisa Freeman
Introduction to Computer-Based Education
EDIT 6150
Dr. Lloyd Rieber
University of Georgia
October 25, 2011
What is Web 2.0?
According to http://www.wikipedia.org, Web 2.0 is ―… a perceived second generation of
web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and
folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users.‖
Basically, Web 2.0 is an Internet discipline created so that users can acquire information and
skills via a new platform. It does not refer to a change in the technical specifications of the
Internet, but it does refer to the way in which the Internet is used. Web 2.0 information is not
presented and maintained by anonymous creators as in the early days of the Internet; now, this
information can be disseminated to the masses by any Internet user.
There are many Web 2.0 sites available to satisfy the interests of just about any Internet
user. Six of the most popular are highlighted below.
Second Life – http://www.secondlife.com/
Second Life (―SL‖) is an Internet-based virtual world where members, called ―residents,‖
can interact with one another or with the SL environment through the use of avatars. In that
regard, SL is a social network site where residents can meet other residents and participate in
individual and/or group activities. Communication between residents is conducted by voice-
enable chats or by instant-message. Members can also own exchange currency, called lindens, to
purchase consumer goods, even virtual real estate on which dwellings can be constructed. One
ever-increasing function of SL is education. Members can participate in synchronous classes run
in real time – yoga, SL navigation; or foreign language acquisition. Several universities (UGA
and Vassar) have sites where coursework may be conducted. Residents can also participate in
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virtual field trips to visit such places of interest as the Sistine Chapel or models of vanished
historical sites such as the Globe theater of Shakespeare fame.
SL is graphic-rich and, consequently, requires a lot of bandwidth and/or an upgraded
memory or graphics card. Depending upon the Internet provider, it may be difficult to move the
avatar to access the various places in SL. In that regard, the graphics are often slow to build and
identify, and navigation of SL may prove frustrating and time-consuming.
MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/
MySpace is an online social networking community. By creating their own personal
pages, users can connect with friends, their friends’ friends, and so on to share photographs, to
chat on-line, to post classifieds, to meet others with your same interests, and to engage in
business networking. There is no cost to join MySpace since its revenue is generated through
advertising. Historically, MySpace (plus Facebook, and others) has received negative publicity
due to the all-to-real danger of predators lurking in these social websites. The user must exercise
caution and not post any personal information on his space. MySpace is committed to the safety
of its users, and posts useful information, tips, and resources for safely navigating online
communities.
TeacherTube.com – http://www.teachertube.com/
TeacherTube is an independent educational version of YouTube. The video collection at
this website is primarily for use by K-12 educators. Most videos can be used to supplement
instruction; however, several videos are available that can be classified as professional
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development and are directed at educators: ―Make Classroom Posters with Excel,‖ Why Let Our
Students Blog?‖ ―Literature Circles,‖ and one called ―Introducing Web 2.0.‖
This website is open to anyone, although membership is required to have the ability to
post and share videos with others. Once a member, an educator can create her own quasi-
MySpace on the website where professional information can be posted, videos can be developed
and posted, and emails/videos to other members/friends can be sent and received. Members can
also post blogs about the videos or other topics of educational interest and access the blog
archive. To encourage postings, TeacherTube has initiated the Interwrite Learning/TeacherTube
video contest in which the top three creators (by popular vote) of videos receive a $15,000.00
Interwrite classroom makeover. Also, one lucky member per month wins a laptop; all that is
required is that members post videos and get friends to join the website. The only negative
aspect of TeacherTube is that new information or articles about TeacherTube, - or developments
in Web 2.0 generally - are not posted at the home page. You have to check the blog page/archive
to access that information.
Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/
Flickr is an on-line photo management and sharing system. Members can upload
personal photographs from almost any location or device that has Internet access (including third
party computers and cell phones). Uploaded personal photos can be organized into sets (photos
with the same theme) and collections (where sets are organized under broader themes) – the
perfect way to keep your photographs organized for easy access.
Flickr members can also belong to a group based upon subject matter or interest. Groups
can be public, by invitation only, or completely private. Individuals can also control who views
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their photos, and viewers can even post comments or blogs about particular pictures. Photo
mapping is a great feature which lets photographers ―drop and drag‖ their photos to a world map
to plot where particular photos were taken. Viewers can also search the map to view photos by
geographic location. Flickr allows members to use photos to create various prints, calling cards,
invitations, custom postage stamps, and books and calendars.
Craigslist – http://www.craigslist.org/
Craigslist is community-based, basically free, on-line classified ad and discussion forum
for over 450 cities worldwide. Visitors to the site can find just about anything normally found in
a classified ad – jobs, homes, personals, goods, services, etc. Craigslist is a for-profit
organization, but most postings are free or at fees remarkably below what other sites or
newspapers charge for classified ads. For instance, in the Atlanta market, Craigslist charges
$0.00 to post a job listing; Monster charges $475.00, Career Builder charges $359.00, and
HotJobs charges $275.00 for a single job listing.
Wikipedia – http://www.wikipedia.org/
Wikipedia, created in 2001, is a web-based collaborative encyclopedia that is posted in
over 250 languages. It is one of the largest Internet encyclopedias and contains over two
millions articles written in English. Many of the articles are extensive in their content because
contributors from all over the world make daily entries to the articles. Consequently, the articles
are a source of the most current information about a given topic.
To make contributions to the articles, the visiting authors do not need to meet special
qualifications; anyone can make changes or additions to the articles, check references, or add
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cross-references which take the user to other Wikipedia articles with related information, etc. If
information is added to the encyclopedia, the writer must include references or the information
can be removed. In that regard, a user of Wikipedia must use discretion because not all of the
information is accurate. Older articles have been edited and re-edited and are more than likely
accurate. However, new articles are subject to error, misinformation, and even ―vandalism,‖ or a
deliberate attempt by a user to damage an article by adding erroneous information, deleting parts
of an article, inserting obscenities, etc. Like any encyclopedia, Wikipedia should be considered a
secondary source.
Go2web20 – http://gotoweb20.net/
Go2web20 makes an attempt to have a comprehensive list of web 2.0 sites, but does it
warrant Web 2.0 status? Go2’s homepage provides a very small list of topics from which to
choose. The visitor to the site clicks on a topic of interest, and a list of websites and sub-topics
to browse to provide the service, good, or information sought is provided. (Once a search is
completed, there is no way to get back to the site’s homepage.) How did this site start? How
does a user add information to the site – a critical component of Web 2.0 status? Still in its
infancy, Go2 appears to be more of a search engine and needs further development away from
simply an information retrieval source to make it a true Web 2.0 application.
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