It’s difficult for me to imagine web 1.0 since my parents didn’t let me consistently surf until I was in eighth grade, and I didn’t do that much “surfing” until I got into high school. By then, web 2.0 had been in place for a while.

Web 1.0 sounds like a nightmare, the opposite of what an internet should be. Sure, it paved the way for this very democratic system we’ve got nowadays, but it feels like something that encourages isolation and pedestals. It’s very reminiscent of what written language used to be- a way of separating people: those who could read/write, and those who could not. I’m sure there are more nuances to it than that, but what we have nowadays allows for more complex connections and interconnections.

As Tim O’Reilly put it in his article What is Web 2.0, it now takes on more significant associations, like those created in the brain’s neural network (as a biology major, this is a particularly poignant statement to make). People create the connections and associations. The users define the applications. ((SIDE NOTE: I was totally confused when I reached the final page of that article- it was longer than the other pages…. then I realized that it simply had a kajillion comments))

Anyhow, this all ties into the idea of using the internet as a resource for education and the overall theme of digital storytelling. I, for one, am a huge supporter of using the internet for learning. I’ve always been a better learner if I’m actively applying my knowledge. The internet is the perfect platform for this, and it allows free communication and critique between students and teachers.

For instance: I took a Creative Writing course a couple semesters ago and we were required to blog our work before bringing it in to class. We were expected to revise each piece based off of the comments our fellow students left. That way, only a little more refining would be needed upon the next class period. I thought it was incredibly efficient, and it cut down on embarrassing encounters if we got an idea of how the piece looked to other people before we had to read it to other students.

I also had to blog for a Library Science course and for a Spanish class. Now, I’m not saying that all approaches are going to work out perfectly, or that there won’t be problems. However, the beauty of being a community of online learners, is that we’re also teachers. My knowledge can be used to augment that of another person and their knowledge can augment mine.

With our powers combined…. well, we can find solutions to some of our issues. It’s not Captain Planet, but we can’t have everything.

Library Science mentioned some things about Creative Commons, along with a lengthy discussion of the Internet Archives. I have to admit, I’m both delighted and terrified by Creative Commons. It’s reassuring that somebody’s thinking about the question of ownership and whatnot, but I realized early on in my perusal of that particular website that it could easily open up a can of worms. It, like most things regarding property and rights and stuff, can easily get markedly complicated. I’ll have to look into it more in the future, I think, when I’m feeling less lazy.

Ehhh… I’ll post more on this subject at a later date. Right now, I’m going to take some Theraflu and go to bed.