There is no doubt that technology has forever changed our world. It has been an evolution of technological advancements that have led us to the current digital era we live in. The Internet has been a catalyst for change as it provides access and accessibility worldwide to its users. Although it has brought about change, it is time for change and shift once again. The Web of today is static and unable to adjust to the individual needs of each person experiencing it. Web 3.0 promises to be more dynamic and interactive. Implementing artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, it will redefine the web experience with structural changes to ensure democratization across all aspects of the internet (Expert.ai., 2022). The coming of this technology will immerse individuals to be actively part of the World Wide Web by being contributing digital citizens as opposed to only the receivers of information. These technologies have positive implications for the growth of education and have the potential to create meaningful change in students' learning and teachers' instructional methods.
A Closer at Web 2.0
One life-changing advancement in the realm of technology is the concept of Web 2.0. It is a concept used to refer to sites resources or developments that have some common Characteristics (Bartolomé, 2007). This upgrade has had a lasting impact in most aspects of the world and has tremendously changed educational technology for the better of teachers and students alike. Web 2.0 is an online computing platform that completely changed the use of the Internet and teaching modalities by means of interactive web-based technologies. Users can share and contribute their thoughts and ideas in online communities via web-based software and tools. Before Web 2.0, users were the sole recipients of information. At that time the Internet was more passive and consisted solely of one way of searching and retrieving information. Unlike those times, now users take ownership of exchanging information and communication. It continues to have extremely beneficial implications for educational settings due to its interactive nature. Students have more direct engagement and use of preferred learning styles. This has led to various forms of technologies such as blogs, wikis, threaded discussions, virtual platforms, and many more. Individuals can utilize these digital formats to interact online. These technological advancements have only continued to grow in the present day.
Shifting into Web 3.0
All these technological advancements have led to the rise of what is now known as Web 3.0, which is an application programming interface considered as the third generation of the World Wide Web. Web 3.0 is being built to be an open-source internet that aims to overcome certain Web 2.0 issues. This includes aspects like direct media/image searches and applications that can speak to each other directly. Technologies like virtual reality and artificial intelligence are forthcoming advancements that have transformed the World Wide Web. Furthermore, users can have more control over freedom of speech, what data to share, and why and how it gets used. It is being created to be a semantic web that has meaningful linked data that is decentralized. Data from digital environments can give teachers incredibly valuable information about how each student is learning and progressing and an array of explanations that their students can use. Teachers also will be able to seek out assistance with problems of practice as they develop their own personal and -connected professional learning networks (Delaney,2012).
In this time and digital age, it is evident that we are far beyond the Web 2.0 days as we move full-forced into the construction of Web 3.0. The question is how do we get educators to comprehend the importance of knowledge and skills that Web 2.0 has to offer their students if they themselves do not utilize it effectively? And how can we translate these skills into the coming of Web 3.0? There must be a curriculum more focused on building 21st-century skills as students prepare to live in a technology-dominated world. As we move forward into the Web 3.0 era, there will continue to be a massive demand for Web 2.0 skills that our students must master in order to be ready for their future educational and career journeys. All of this is why educators must immerse themselves in this internet and digital shift in order to instruct their students in the most efficient and effective way. Teachers want to see students learn and succeed. These emerging tools will augment their ability to support their students (Delaney,2012). The end goal must be to build future-ready learners by providing them with the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in our modern world.
Food for thought...
References
Bartolomé, Antonio. (2007). Web 2.0 and New Learning Paradigms. eLearning Papers, Nº. 8, 2008. 8.
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