Evaluating Web 2.0

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Reviews, feedback and observations are all ways in which most of us determine whether or not we might invest time and/or money in a particular product or experience. When most of us are faced with unfamiliar territory, we tend to flock to anyone who might have experienced this territory to "pick their brain." This has also been the process for a lot of us when determining what software we might use in our educational settings. Additionally, formal educational reviews of software are also useful, particularly when a large amount of money in budgets - that are already too tight - has to be shelled out for licensing, support and future upgrades.

However, with the constant evolution of the Internet along with wireless connectivity and mobile technology, the offerings of educational software, or software that can be used in an educational setting, has changed the landscape. It may not be as important to cite in a software review the operating system that is required, but rather which Internet browser works best with software applications that fall under the category of "Web 2.0."

The development of Web 2.0 applications has changed the landscape for the educator and the learner. As indicated in the article "Why Web 2.0 is Good for Learning and for Research: Principles and Protocols," Web 2.0 applications "take full advantage of the network nature of the Web: they encourage participation, are inherently social and open." Not surprisingly, as pointed out in this article, Web 2.0 applications fall in line with "modern educational theories such as constructivism and connectionism" making them ideal for use in many educational settings. Additionally, they are ready to use platforms and the "burden of designing an easy to use interface is taken from the teacher."

The popularity and continued development of Web 2.0 applications has left educators with a tremendous choice of online software that can be used in an unlimited number of creative ways for educational purposes. And most of it is free or extremely affordable.

Yet, this growing trend does not make educational reviews passe. However, how Web 2.0 applications are assessed may differ, since many of them were not developed specifically for educational use. So while an educator would like to gain information on how the application works and what its interface is like, the more important  feature of educational reviews could become how the application has been "applied" to specific educational settings. Such is the case on the Free Technology for Teachers site written by Richard Bryne. Not only does Bryne offer many different choices of online applications, but he also usually discusses how the software can be applied in the classroom.

The development of evaluation repositories would appear to coincide with the nature of Web 2.0 applications (online participation, etc). Additionally, as educators continue to implement Web 2.0 in their learning environments, it is only logical that some educators will also choose to develop their own Web 2.0 applications for particular learning outcomes. In fact, online communities, very similar to the idea of an evaluation repository, exist for information sharing and the collaborative production of Web 2.0 development, such as web2fordev.net. Moreover, there are many existing sites that focus on the use of Web 2.0 applications/tools for educational purposes, such as www.educatorstechnology.com.

When we bundle the power and popularity of Web 2.0 with the continuing focus on mobile computing and the growth of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in educational settings, a very strong argument can be made that the approach and focus on evaluating software for educational purposes is (and will continue) going through many changes. Indeed, as educators and students continue to embrace the power of Web 2.0, how we approach software evaluations is only one of many concerns. For example, as stated in "Critical Issues in Evaluating the Effectiveness of Technology" (critical issue 7), there is a continuing need for "policies that govern technology uses" to "keep up with classroom practices" so "innovative and effective practices" can be encouraged and continue to grow.

The use of evaluation repositories where experts, researchers, educators, learners and any other stakeholders can share, learn, discuss, argue and evaluate the effectiveness of Web 2.0 applications in our learning environments, may be one of the more important factors to help policymakers stay abreast of the continuing changes in technology, and how it is applied in educational settings. Our older practices of trying to standardize what software should be used will be out of date before most educators even receive the updates on what has been deemed acceptable software for their classrooms. The idea of following a model similar to how we choose books through evaluation for educational settings has some merit, but it cannot be a process that binds the educator's ability to decide what application would work best for his/her classroom, or to develop or customize an existing Web 2.0 platform.