Web 2.0

What I like the most about Web 2.0 is that it is giving voice to people of all ages, social status and from different countries to express their ideas. Web 2.0 creates a space of global participation, this can make more people involve in political and social issues. In a society that it is more and more individualized this tools are very important to create social participation.

The audiences are now very active and more critical, they are able to produce and distribute their own content using a variety of easy tools. Many of the tools are free and people just need to have access to a computer with Internet to upload content.

As Tim O’Reily mentioned in his interview, mobile devices such as cell phones are becoming a common way to have access to our digital and network lives. They are our constant companions and their increasing capabilities are offering instant access to websites, music, videos, and possibilities of sharing photos, videos, and ideas.

I believe that Web 2.0 will have a bigger impact in education in the future. With these tools it is possible for students to share work, see the work of others and benefit from them. Web 2.0 enhances collaboration among teachers, students from their own community and from people around the world and fosters creative expression.

My concern about 2.0 is that it is creating a new digital divide, it is not now about people who have or not access to computers and internet, this new digital divide is about the way people are using the internet, it means a digital divide between web 1.0 users and web 2.0 users.

In developing countries governments have done big efforts to provide infrastructure that allows the diffusion of the Internet to all socioeconomic levels of their societies but this technologies by themselves are not guaranteeing qualitative changes regarding to education and participation. Digital equity involves more than providing access to digital equipment and connectivity to the Internet. The technological innovation implies rethink the dynamics of the whole academic training, even from the basic education. To achieve digital equity it is necessary for users to have skills and the capacity to use ICT for productive social purposes.

I think that Web 2.0 has shown to be very successful for social purposes in most of the countries and in all level of society, but in developing countries the use of Web 2.0 for political participation is very limited and it has been used mainly by journalist and some citizens who want to express their opinions.