Week 15 Activity 1.2 - Positive Aspects of Web 2.0

Identify three examples of positive aspects of Web 2.0 tools or developments. Use your own experience or carry out a web search.

1. Connectedness
Web 2.0 social software enables people who are geographically distant from one another opportunities to connect, chat and share. This has benefits for many student groups for example those who are studying at distance to help overcome isolation or those on campus based courses who have other commitments outside of lectures such as family or work. From an accessibility point of view the connectedness offered by tools such as twitter, plurk, facebook, and other social software means that students can participate with other students in their group without having to travel to meetings or lectures, which might be difficult for a variety of reasons. In addition, the nature of social software is such that the network of contacts can grow through relationships with others. These connections may outlast the duration of the course and continue to be a source of support.

2. Sharing
Web 2.0 applications such as social bookmarking where people store interesting links online and organise them by keyword tags are useful for research because of the organic nature in which your research can be influenced by the research of others. Someone who has bookmarked some of the same items as a student may also have other useful resources stored which the student may never have come across by themselves. Folksonomy may also offer a useful way for students with learning disabilities organise their online research.

3. User Generated Content
Web 2.0 applications have made it easier for website users to contribute to content. The ease in which materials can be published on a variety of web 2.0 platforms affords us the opportunity to create, store and share niche content which can help to address different learning styles, learning difficulties or other issues regarding disabled learners.

Despite all of the above benefits many web 2.0 applications, due to the nature of the programming technology, will remain largely inaccessible for some users particularly those who are visually impaired.