An E-Portfolio to Support E-Learning 2.0

The e-Learning 2.0 Definition

The term “e-learning 2.0” first appeared in 2005 by Downes (2005) to show how communities of practice can constitute an interesting new learning model. According to Downes (2005), “we can talk of e-learning 2.0 applications if users apply Web 2.0 media, i.e. social software, such as wikis, weblogs or RSS in collaborative learning activities for autonomously producing their own learning contents and using them for their own learning objectives”. This definition clearly outlines a central feature of an e-learning 2.0 setting: learners are autonomous in acquiring knowledge (Blees, 2009). An extended e-learning 2.0's definition may be “an approach to learning based on conversation, interaction, sharing, creation and participation, also on learning not as a separate activity, but rather, as embedded in meaningful activities such as games and workflows” (Downes, 2009), (Lytras et al., 2010). E-learning 2.0 is then based on tools that combine ease of content creation, web delivery, and integrated collaboration. Creation of content can occur by anyone as part of their day-to-day activities (Deng, 2007). 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 learners. They are starting to explore the potential of blogs, media-sharing services and other social software which, although not designed specifically for e-learning, can be used to empower students and create exciting new learning opportunities (Cui, 2008).