Web 2.0- How do we define this? by Dr. Christine Coleman
What is the actual definition of Web 2.0? According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0, the term "Web 2.0 (2004-present) is commonly associated with web applications that facilitate interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.”
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Web_2.0 defines it as “The second generation of the World Wide Web, especially the movement away from static web pages to dynamic and shareable content and social networking. From the United Kingdom it is defined from www.headland.co.uk/pages/glossary as “A term used to describe a new generation of Web services and applications with an increasing emphasis on human collaboration.” From www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx it is defined as, “Web 2.0 (or Web 2) is the popular term for advanced Internet technology and applications including blogs, wikis, RSS and social bookmarking.”
I also found from www.share.uni-koeln.de/ defines, “Web 2.0 is an expression which was used for the first time in 2004 and referred to the second generation of Internet. The main characteristics of new era in Internet is connected with its constant development and delivering services tailored to the needs of each user.”
www.capilanou.ca/help/login-page/active-cms/glossary.html explains it as, “Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of the Web, which enables people with no specialized technical knowledge to create their own websites, to self-publish, create and upload audio and video files, share photos and information and complete a variety of other tasks.”
Finally, from webtrends.about.com/od/web20/a/web20-glossary_2.htm explains Web 2.0 as “there is no set definition of Web 2.0, it generally refers to the use of the web as a more social platform where users participate by generating their own content alongside the content provided by the websites.”
From what I can conclude, Web 2.0 has created a new generation of web use that is centered around free (for the most part) web based content creation tools and applications that allow for collaboration with others. Today, such Web 2.0 sites as YouTube, Ning, del.icio.us, Flickr, Blogger, Digg, Skype, GMail and Wikipedia are very commonly used in schools and for productivity in offices, that it is difficult to understand that we still cannot define what Web 2.0! Perhaps Web 3.0 will be defined......
So how do you define Web 2.0?
Dr. Christine Coleman has been a Director of Technology for more than ten years. For the past six years she has been working in the City School District of New Rochelle and her department manages a 13,000 user network. She is responsible for integrating technology into the K-12 curriculum, technology professional development, technical support services, data processing services, strategic planning and project management of technology, technology budget management and asset management for her district.
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