ABSTRACT
In this chapter we look in detail at a wide range of web 2.0 tools, considering their advantages and disadvantages and describing an actual education application. Th e following is a list of the tools discussed:
• Audiographics • Blogs/Weblogs • e-books • e-portfolios • Games and Simulations • Instant Messaging • Mashups • Mobile Learning • Online Forums • Photo Sharing • Podcasts • RSS Feeds • Second Life • Social Bookmarking • Social Networking • Twitter • Video Messaging • Wikis • Video Clips and YouTube • Video Chat
Th e combined use of voice transmission and computer networking has been used in education for at least 15 years. Nevertheless, no one term has emerged to refer to this activity, partly because the technology keeps evolving. An early term was audiographics, but this is not widely used; interactive whiteboard is a more descriptive term but tends to be used for a large physical display panel that can function as an electronic copy board. Typically, interactive whiteboards are used in lecture or classroom environments and the technology allows the lecturer to write or draw on the surface, print off the image, save it to computer and then distribute it over a network. By contrast, the term electronic whiteboard usually refers to a system which involves networked audio as well as screen sharing, and is more appropriate for distance or distributed learning.
