What the Heck IS Web 2.0?

Okay, so if you're as old as I am and you've had a computer for more than a while, you probably remember getting on the Internet for the first time. You could put in an address, go to a webpage, and look at things. Ooh! Ahh!

And that was ALL you could do.

If you had a question about something you read or you thought the page owner had misinformation or you wanted to leave a comment, you were out of luck. You could look, but you couldn't participate.
THAT was Web 1.0.

Today's web is different in three significant ways:

• First, it is comprised of tons of user-made and user-contributed content. Are you familiar with Wikipedia? Podcasts? YouTube? Flickr? These are only a few of the many ways you can become a contributor to the web. You can share your ideas in a blog, your knowledge and expertise in a wiki, your photos at a photo-sharing site like Flickr!

• Next, today's web offers users an unprecedented number of web-based applications. What does that mean? It means that you are not buying and/or installing software on your computer. Instead, you open your browser, head to a website, and you are able to do whatever task you want to right there. An example of this would be an online typing tutor or a blogging website, like Blogger :) As a bonus, many, if not most, web-based applications are free or low-cost.

• Finally, Web 2.0 offers rich social interaction. Whether it's MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, or Plurk, or any of hundreds of other tools, you can socialize, collaborate, comment, and interact in ways that were not possible a decade ago.

And THAT'S Web 2.0!

In an upcoming post, I'll tell you a little about Web 2.0 and Education...and how they just may be perfect together!