How Web 2.0 Changed the World and How Educators are Slowly Catching On

10 years ago the face of the internet changed.  Although the term was first used by Nancy DiNucci in 1999, it was not until 2004 that changes in the way websites were created and used revolutionised The Net.  Social media such a MySpace, Facebook and Twitter; user generated WIKIs, blogs and vlogs; and virtual communities like Second Life connected people around the world and allowed for collaboration and interaction like never before.

This is not to say that The Internet was not collaborative before the advent of Web 2.0.  Tim Berners Lee, the father of the World Wide Web always envisaged it as a 'collaborative medium'.  Before Web 2.0 there were chat rooms, IRC, forums and Usenet.

Despite the technology having been around for over a decade, educators are only now beginning to see the advantages of the collaborative nature of the web.  More and more, schools are embracing the power of blogging as a tool to keep parents informed, hold a repository of information, examples or videos useful for lessons and perhaps most importantly to give a purpose and audience to children's work.

Microblogging site Twitter is an interesting social media tool in the classroom often used in the 'flipped classroom'.  The 140 character limit teaches children to be succinct and precise in their writing and there are a host of innovative ways to integrate it into lessons.  From creating a class account and tweeting as a historical figure during a history topic to connecting with authors or experts to enhance the learning experience, savvy teachers are using it to enthuse and engage students and to share their learning with other flipped classes.

What's next?  The big watchword in the classroom now is gamification.  With classes using 'level up' style reward systems and online house points such as Class Dojo, children are becoming excited about participating in class.  Gaming holds children's attention, they want to play again and again and using techniques employed in gaming might just change the face of learning in the 21st Century.