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E-learning 2.0: E-learning Base on Web 2.

0
Hamidreza Talebi1
1
University of Science and Technology(IUST), Tehran, Iran
info@vdsoft.ir

Abstract
The web was shifting from being a medium, in which information was transmitted and consumed, into
being a platform, in which contents are being created, remixed and shared. E-learning 2.0 is the next
generation of e-learning 1.X based on Web 2.0 that likes contents to be produced by students rather than
courseware authors. The term first appeared in 2005 by Stephen Downes. Structure in e-Learning 2.0, is
more likely to resemble a blogging tool rather than a book or a manual whose content is produced by
students. In This article likes to point out the benefits of e-learning 2.0 and compare it with e-learning 1.X
and also we will take into account the impacts of Web 2.0 in our Future education. We consider the web
2.0 tools and then compare them with e-learning 1.X. The summary of this article pointes out the
importance of e-Learning 2.0 and a lot more research should be done in future in this field.

Keywords
Web 2.0, rss, blog, wiki, bookmark, mashup.

1. Introduction In this paper we'll explain present education, Web 2.0


tools and then we point out the benefits of E-learning
The original World Wide Web—the “Web 1.0” that
2.0 and the future of education.
emerged in the mid-1990s—vastly expanded access to
information. The Open Educational Resources
movement is an example of the impact that the Web 2. Today's education
1.0 has had on education. But the Web 2.0, which has Before talk about tremendous tools in e-learning, let's
emerged in just the past few years, is sparking an even describe here we are now. When we think of today's
more far reaching revolution. Tools such as blogs, learning we probably think of learning object and
wikis, social networks, tagging systems, mashups, CBT (computer base training) that sequence and
trackback, podcasting, videoblogs and content-sharing organize these bits of content into courses.
sites are examples of a new user-centric information Today, e-learning mainly takes the form of online
infrastructure that emphasizes participation over courses such as MIT's OpenCourseWare project that
presentation, that encourages focused conversation offerings found from colleges and universities
and short briefs(often written in a less technical, everywhere.
public vernacular) rather than traditional publication, As a consequence, the dominant learning technology
and that facilitates innovative explorations, employed today is a type of system that organizes and
experimentations that often form the basis of a delivers online courses—the learning management
situated understanding emerging from action, not system (LMS). This piece of software has become
passivity. In the twentieth century, the dominant almost ubiquitous in the learning environment. The
approach to education focused on helping students to learning management system takes learning content
build stocks of knowledge and cognitive skills that and organizes it in a standard way, as a course divided
could be deployed later in appropriate situations. This into modules and lessons, supported with quizzes,
approach to education worked well in a relatively tests and discussions, and in many systems today,
stable, slowly changing world in which careers integrated into the college or university's student
typically lasted a lifetime. But the twenty-first century information system.
is quite different. The world is evolving at an
increasing pace. When jobs change, as they are likely In general, all traditional learning is become online.
to do, we can no longer expect to send someone back Traditional theories of distance learning, of
to school to be retrained. By the time that happens, transactional distance have been adapted for the
the domain of inquiry is likely to have morphed yet online world. Content is organized according to this
again. Indeed, such an environment might encourage traditional model and delivered either completely
students to readily and happily pick up new online. Actually we are now in online world.
knowledge and skills as the world shifts beneath
them.
3. Goal of E-learning 4.1. Blogging
Nowadays the nature of Internet and the people using Blogging is increasingly finding a home in education
Internet, have begun to change. These changes are not (both in school and university), as not only does the
unique to education, all industries have been changed. software remove the technical barriers to writing and
The changes in e-learning are being driven by two publishing online -but the 'journal' format encourages
primary forces. The first force is a steady increase in students to keep a record of their thinking over time.
the pace of business and information creation, which Blogs also of course facilitate critical feedback, by
has led to a shift in work, especially knowledge work, letting readers add comments - which could be from
and an evolution in information needs. In turn, this teachers, peers or a wider audience.
has led to the following expectations for corporate
learning: 4.2. Wikies
• Fast transfer of knowledge is a must. A wiki is a webpage or set of webpages that can be
• Learning should transpire in short burst easily edited by anyone who is allowed access
within the context of the actual workflow. (Ebersbach et al., 2006). Wikipedia’s popular success
• Learning professionals need to develop has meant that the concept of the wiki, as a
learning experiences quickly—and at a lower collaborative tool that facilitates the production of a
cost to the organization. group work, is widely understood. Wiki pages have
The second driver affecting workplace learning is the an edit button displayed on the screen and the user
advent of Web 2.0. The term Web 2.0 has many can click on this to access an easy-to-use online
definitions, but it can be thought of as consisting of editing tool to change or even delete the contents of
two primary aspects: the page in question. Simple, hypertext-style linking
between pages is used to create a navigable set of
Read/write web. In its most basic form, Web 2.0 pages.
means that anyone should be able to easily create and
contribute content on the Internet. This ranges from
writing a blog, to providing video on YouTube, to 4.3. Podcasting
putting pictures on Flickr, to contributing written
content on wikis such as Wikipedia, as well as Podcasting has become a popular technology in
developing a social network on something like education, in part because it provides a way of
MySpace. pushing educational content to learners. For example,
Stanford University has teamed up with Apple to
Technical improvements to the Internet. Web 2.0 create the Stanford iTunes University - which
also has meant a shift in the way applications are provides a range of digital content (some closed and
built. The web has become a ubiquitous computing some publicly accessible) that students can subscribe
platform that enables the delivery of software as a to using Apple's iTunes software.
service. Over the coming years, it will be increasingly
rare to buy software for installation on a local However, student-produced podcasts are where it's at
machine. Instead almost all software will be delivered when it comes to educational podcasting. Swap 'user-
as a service through the web, and these same generated content' for 'learner- generated content' and
applications will often provide components that can you soon get the picture. Apple, with its strong
be used seamlessly in other applications. The best presence in the education market, has been quick to
example of this is the many mash-ups of Google recognize the learning potential of student podcasting.
Maps, which allow users to view real estate listings, Apple is heavily marketing its iPod and associated
sales prospects, and other data points on a map. content creation tools (iMovie, GarageBand, and
iTunes) to the education sector. The podcasting
section of iTunes even has a category dedicated to
education.
4. Web 2.0 As with blogging, podcasting provides students with
Web 2.0 is a term describing the trend in the use of a sense of audience - and they are highly motivated to
World Wide Web technology and web design that podcast because the skills required seem 'relevant' to
aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, today's world.
most notably, collaboration among users. These
concepts have led to the development and evolution 4.4. DOPA and Social Networks
of web-based communities and hosted services, such
as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs and A "commercial social networking website" is defined
folksonomies. In this part we point out to web 2.0 as any web service that:
tools: "...allows users to create web pages or profiles that
provide information about themselves and are
available to other users; and offers a mechanism for
communication with other users, such as a forum, understanding) is socially constructed. Construction
chat room, email, or instant messenger." takes place through conversations about content and
grounded interaction about problems and actions. The
The educational potential of social software and model of e-learning as being a type of content,
services is huge. However, much of the work being produced by publishers, organized and structured into
done by educator is in danger of being undermined by courses, and consumed by students, is turned on its
the recently proposed Deleting Online Predators Act head. Insofar as there is content, it is used rather than
(DOPA). read— and is, in any case, more likely to be produced
by students than courseware authors. And insofar as
4.5. Mashup(Web Application Hybrid) there is structure, it is more likely to resemble a
language or a conversation rather than a book or a
Mashup originally referred to the practice in pop
manual. Advocates of social learning claim that one
music (notably hip-hop) of producing a new song by
of the best ways to learn something is to teach it to
mixing two or more existing pieces.
others.
In technology, a mashup is a web application that
combines data from more than one source into a
"We're talking to the download generation," said
single integrated tool; an example is the use of
Peter Smith, associate dean, Faculty of Engineering.
cartographic data from Google Maps to add location
"Why not have the option to download information
information to real-estate data, thereby creating a new
about education and careers the same way you can
and distinct web service that was not originally
download music? It untethers content from the Web
provided by either source.
and lets students access us at their convenience."
Mashups currently come in three general flavors:
Moreover, using an online service such as Odeo,
consumer mashups, data mashups, and business
Blogomatrix Sparks, or even simply off-the-shelf
mashups.
software, students can create their own podcasts.
The best known type is the consumer mashup, best
exemplified by the many Google Maps applications.
The e-learning application, therefore, begins to
Consumer mashups combine data elements from
look very much like a blogging tool. It represents one
multiple sources, hiding this behind a simple unified
node in a web of content, connected to other nodes
graphical interface.
and content creation services used by other students.
Other common types are "data mashups" and
It becomes, not an institutional or corporate
"enterprise mashups". A data mashup mixes data of
application, but a personal learning center, where
similar types from different sources (see Yahoo
content is reused and remixed according to the
Pipes), as for example combining the data from
student's own needs and interests. It becomes, indeed,
multiple RSS feeds into a single feed with a graphical
not a single application, but a collection of
front end. An enterprise mashup, usually integrates
interoperating applications—an environment rather
data from internal and external sources - for example,
than a system.
it could create a market share report by combining an
external list of all houses sold in the last week with
More formally, instead of using enterprise
internal data about which houses one agency sold.
learning-management systems, educational
A business mashup is a combination of all the above,
institutions expect to use an interlocking set of open-
focusing on both data aggregation and presentation,
source applications. Work on such a set of
and additionally adding collaborative functionality,
applications has begun in a number of quarters, with
making the end result suitable for use as a business
the E-Learning Framework defining a set of common
application. Mashups increase the level of
applications and the newly formed e-Framework for
personalization of the Internet. Many people are
Education and Research drawing on an international
convinced in the power of mashups and view
collaboration. While there is still an element of
mashups as the future of the web.
content delivery in these systems, there is also an
increasing recognition that learning is becoming a
creative activity and that the appropriate venue is a
5. E-learning 2.0 platform rather than an application.
The term e-learning 2.0 is used to refer to new ways
of thinking about e-learning inspired by the In the future it will be more widely recognized
emergence of Web 2.0. The new focus in social that the learning comes not from the design of
learning replaces the traditional Cartesian View of learning content but in how it is used. Most e-learning
knowledge and learning. The Cartesian perspective theorists are already there, and are exploring how
that underpins the old e-learning assumes that learning content-whether professionally authored or
knowledge is a kind of substance, so it can be created by students— can be used as the basis for
packaged using instructional methodologies in order learning activities rather than the conduit for learning
to be delivered and transferred to the students. E- content.
learning 2.0 assumes that knowledge (as meaning and
A great amount of work is being done, for It is important to note that e-Learning 1.0, e-Learning
example, in educational gaming and simulations 1.3, and e-Learning 2.0 represent an evolution of
.Where games encourage learning is through the approaches that use the web to support learning and
provision of what a student needs to know in a improve human performance. E-Learning 2.0 makes
context where it will be immediately used. As Gee sense when there are widely different learning needs.
recommends, "Words are only meaningful when they E-Learning 2.0 also is a solid option when content
can be related to experiences," said Gee. cannot be cost effectively identified up-front because
there is too much information or specific learning
A similar motivation underlies the rapidly rising needs are unknown and will be generated as part of
domain of mobile learning —for after all, were the work.
context in which learning occurs not important, it
would not be useful or necessary to make learning Table 1. Generation of E-learning
mobile. Mobile learning offers not only new E-Learning E-Learning E-Learning 2.0
opportunities to create but also to connect. As Ellen 1.0 1.3
Wagner and Bryan Alexander note, mobile learning • Coursewa • Reference • Wikis
"define(s) new relationships and behaviors among re hybrids • Social
learners, information, personal computing devices,

Main Components
• LMSs • LCMSs networking
and the world at large."
• Authoring • Rapid and
tools authoring bookmarking
In the world of learning, what this means is having tools
tools
learning available no matter what you are doing. Jay
• Blogs
Cross captures this idea in the concept of "workflow
• Add-ins
learning." Sam Adkins writes, workflow learning is "a
deep integration with enterprise applications • Mash-ups
assembled from Web Services into composite
applications" with "task and work support fused into Top-down, Top-down, Bottom-up,
Ownership

the aggregated business processes that make up the one-way collaborative learner-driven,
real-time workflow" and supported by "contextual peer learning
collaboration with people and systems" and "design
and modification achieved by modeling and
simulation".
Long Rapid None
Development

6. Generation of E-learning
Time

As I show in Table 1, we compare three version of E-


learning below:
E-learning 1.0 was managed through a LMS, courses
built using authoring tools, content size 60+ minutes, 60 minutes 15 minutes 1 minute
Content

The development of content was too long.


Size

E-Learning 1.3 is a label used to represent the


generation of e-learning that has emerged in recent
years, in which learning is developed more quickly.
rior to work In between During work
Access

Learning is made available within the context of work


TimeP

work
and, thus, needs to be in a form that is easily
retrieved. For that reason, learning is not always
accessed via the LMS, but pushed to the learner lass Intro, Office Peers, Experts
MeetingsC

through email or accessed via links on an hours


Virtual

organization's intranet. E-Learning 1.3 content is


created typically by subject matter experts using
templates developed with rapid e-learning tools or
learning content management systems (LCMSs). In At one time In many pieces When you need it
addition, virtual meetings might be dispersed
Delivery

occasionally as part of the over all learning


experience.
E-Learning 2.0 is based on tools that combine ease of
content creation, web delivery, and integrated MS Email, Intranet Search, RSS feed
Content
AccessL

collaboration. Creation of content can occur by


anyone as part of their day-to-day work. In essence,
the expectation of e-Learning 2.0 is that sharing and
learning becomes an organic action that is directed
and driven by the worker.
E-Learning E-Learning E-Learning 2.0 to language-learning materials. This complements the
1.0 1.3 free offerings - basically, the Mandarin podcasts -
ID Learner Worker very nicely. For example, if you want to dive into
learning Mandarin straight away: select one of the
Driver
episodes, plus you can participate in the discussions.
The first level subscription is called 'Basic' and gets
you a PDF transcript of the podcast. If you want get
really serious about learning Mandarin, sign up to the
ID SME User
premium subscription service and receive learning
Content
creator

resources such as Review Materials and Lesson Plans.

The community aspect of ChinesePod shows what


can be done with web 2.0 technologies in e-learning.
The wiki has extra links and information, the forum is
well-used by users, the photos are lovely (of China),
7. Examples of e-learning 2.0 apps and and there are a lot of great rss feeds to choose
websites from[15].
edublogs.org and wikispaces.com are two examples of
blog and wiki resources for e-learning. There are 7.1. Google, Microsoft, Apple, IBM -
some interesting web apps for students popping up, active in e-learning 2.0
for example a collaborative note taking app called What else is out there currently in Internet-based
stu.dicio.us and the ReadWriteThink Printing Press - education software? Well for a start, the Internet
which enables users to create a newspaper, brochure, BigCos all have products in the e-learning segment.
etc. Google offers the free Google Apps for Education
(includes Gmail, Chat, Calendar, Page Creator, start
For an in-depth look at one of the leaders in this page). Microsoft has a range of education products
space, Elgg - a social network for education. This is (including live.com hosting/email and potential
an excellent example of how web 2.0 is shaping e- groupware for education), and Apple offers free
learning. Elgg is social networking software designed podcast hosting for education (iTunes U). IBM is also
especially for education - built from the ground up to a player in the education sector.
support learning.
Google seems to be particularly active in
Described by its founders as a 'learning landscape', education, amongst the Internet companies. It has
Elgg provides each user with their own weblog, file Google for Educators, described as "a platform of
repository (with podcasting capabilities), an online teaching resources". Also its Google Enterprise
profile and an RSS reader. Additionally, all of a user's Professional program has at least one education
content can be tagged with keywords - so they can provider - Blackboard become the first member of the
connect with other users with similar interests and program to focus primarily on educational
create their own personal learning network. However, institutions.
where Elgg differs from a regular weblog or a Google introduced new tool for real-time
commercial social network (such as MySpace) is the communication and collaboration called
degree of control each user is given over who can "GoogleWave". A wave can be both a conversation-
access their content. Each profile item, blog post, or and a document where people can discuss and work
uploaded file can be assigned its own access together using richly formatted text, photos, videos,
restrictions - from fully public, to only readable by a maps, and more.
particular group or individual.
Not to mention that online office products can be
Note that this type of e-learning social network is used to enhance collaboration in an education setting.
similar to "smart" social networks, in which you can Google Docs & Spreadsheets for example. In effect,
put access controls around your personal details, so the BigCos are able to leverage their current product
that only people you trust can see them. Facebook, range and promote them to schools [15].
imbee, Vox, and Multiply are all examples of smart
social networks.

Another great example of an e-learning 2.0 app is 8. References and Citations


ChinesePod, which we profiled in November. The world is shrinking rapidly. The Internet has
ChinesePod teaches Mandarin over the Web. It uses brought the world together in ways that nobody would
podcasting, RSS, blogging - and other Web 2 have expected. You can now attend a college half way
technologies - to teach Mandarin Chinese. The around the world, with students from any country
business model is surprisingly simple - subscriptions with Internet access. People will telecommute to their
jobs more in the future, while their companies the European Market. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, pp.79-
compete globally. 96 "Sloan Consortium"
[3] Hebert, D. G. (2007). “Five Challenges and Solutions
As a result of all of above factors we may see in Online Music Teacher Education,” Research and
Issues in Music Education, Vol. 5 Informal
some of the following predictions come true in the description of Laurillard's Model
next decade: [4] Gilly Salmon, Kogan, E-moderating: The Key to
Teaching and Learning Online - Page, 2000, ISBN 0-
• Corporations will compete directly with 7494-4085-6
colleges and K-12 schools. [5] Bloom, B. S., and D. R. Krathwohl. (1956).
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1
• Partnerships and mergers between learning Bååth, J. A. (1982) "Distance Students' Learning -
Empirical Findings and Theoretical Deliberations"
institutions, publishers, technology
[6] Black, J. & McClintock, R. (1995) "An Interpretation
companies, learning providers will Construction Approach to Constructivist Design."
consolidate the marketplace. [7] Karrer, T (2006) What is eLearning 2.0?
http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2006/02/what-is-
• Many schools and colleges will be taken over elearning-20.html
or will go out of business [8] Karrer, T (2007) Understanding eLearning 2.0
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2007/0707karrer.html
• A much greater % of learning (formal and [9] Downes, S (2005) E-Learning 2.0.
http://www.downes.ca/post/31741
informal) will take place online.
[10] Karrer, T (2008) Corporate Long Tail Learning and
Attention Crisis
• The massive role of instructor will be broken http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2008/02/corporate-
down into multiple positions: curriculum learning-long-tail-and.html
design, content delivery, classroom facilitator, [11] Brown J.S & Adler R, 2008, ‘Minds on Fire: Open
learner support, etc. Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0′,
• Top instructors will be hired by the private Educause review, Jan/Feb 2008, pp
sector for all the positions stated above. 1632
http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAU
SE+Review/MindsonFireOpenEducationt/45823?time
=1206661710
• Fewer students will get the traditional on- [12] Markus Angermeier : Web 2.0 Mindmap Translated
campus degree, and most will get at least a versions
portion of it online and off-campus. [13] Stephen Fry, Web 2.0 (Video interview (Adobe
Flash)). Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
• Learning providers will compete over learners [14] Barnwal, Rajesh (2007-01-21). Web 2.0 is all about
especially those that are highly motivated and understanding the economic value of social
able to pay the most. interaction. AlooTechie. Retrieved on 2008-02-23.
Paul Anderson,What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies
and implications for education, 2007
• Learners will complete degrees and [15]http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/e-
certificates made up of courses and learning_20_all_you_need_to_know.php
experiences from a wide range of learning [16] http://wave.google.com
providers.

9. Conclusion
As this article shows, there is a lot of web 2.0 activity
in the e-learning. The current era of the Web is all
about two-way communication, collaboration and
'read/write'; and the classroom is an ideal place to
utilize these technologies.

References
[1] Richard P. Adler, Minds on Fire: Enhancing India's
Knowledge Workforce (Gurgaon, India: Aspen
Institute India, 2007),
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/atf/cf/%7BDEB6F227-
659B-
4EC88F848DF23CA704F5%7D/ICT07IndiaMindson
Firefinal.pdf
[2] Nagy, A. (2005). The Impact of E-Learning, in:
Bruck, P.A.; Buchholz, A.; Karssen, Z.; Zerfass, A.
(Eds). E-Content: Technologies and Perspectives for

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