E-Learning 2.0: Web 2.0, the Semantic Web and the Power of Collective Intelligence

Abstract

This chapter contends that both Web 2.0 and the SemanticWeb (the SW) serve as critical enablers for e-learning 2.0. It also maintains that the SW has the potential to take e-learning 2.0 to new frontiers of advancement. Most significantly, the chapter argues that Web 2.0 and the SW provide an ideal platform for harnessing collectiveintelligence, collective knowledge, the power of thegroundswell, the network effect, and the collective powerof simulation for higher education institutions (HEIs) in thearea of elearning 2.0. Against this backdrop, the chapter provides, first, a short overview of e-learning 2.0, Web 2.0and the SW. Second, it characterises the way in which Web2.0 social software technologies (e.g., blogs, wikis, social networks and virtual worlds) can be deployed in HEIs for delivering e-learning 2.0 for educational purposes. In addition, it outlines the manner in which the SW (in theform of semantic blogs, semantic wikis, semantic social networks and semantic virtual worlds) can enhance each ofthese Web 2.0 technologies for deploying e-learning 2.0 in HEIs.