A commentary on the potentials of social media applications Essay

A commentary on the potentials of social media applications - Essay Example 11 Supporting of experimentation and take up 12 Creation of synergies: 13 Bibliography 19 Introduction The previous five years have resulted to a growing excitement within the community of education about web2.0 technologies. The technology is an umbrella term used to refer to numerous internet applications including wikis, social networking, virtual societies, folksonomies and blogging among others. Even though these applications differ in function and form, all of them share a characteristic that is common. That is, the supporting of interaction that is internet based within and between groups. Web 2.0 technology marks a different isolation from the 1900s internet applications and also the early 2000s internet applications, allowing forms of exchange that are â€Å"interactive† rather than broadcast† whereby information sharing is â€Å"many-to-many† as compared to one to many. Web 2.0 applications focus around sharing and appropriation of content between commun ity users whose outcome is multiple dimensions of user-driven communication, content recreation and creation and collaboration. Commentators are now talking of a write/read web where individuals can generate easily their own content and also utilize content generated by others. For instance, Wikipedia is unique from the online Encyclopaedia Britanica. This is because, Wikipedia is a document that is open thus being updated, created, refereed and edited by its readers. This has made it derive authority and accuracy from the ever ongoing consensus and discussions rather than depending on a single expert word. Given the significance of collaboration, creation and communication to using of the above named technologies, educationalist have been on the forefront pointing out the web 2.0 potential for enhancing and supporting learning. The education agendas have focused on social software emerging practices. Social software is categorized broadly as software that enables interaction betwee n groups. The most common among individuals are discussion forums that are internet based, dating sites and social networking. From the studies carried out by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), it was concluded that, new opportunities for modernising and innovating training and education institutions and for purposes of preparing the 21st century learners, could only be achieved through the uptake of social media applications outside settings of formal education (Alan-Mutka 2009, 2010). The increased rates of internet use for mail sending and receiving are a good indicator of the conceived significance of the internet for knowledge and communication. In addition to that, the internet is crucial for information exchange. With the innovation and introduction of multiple applications in social media, interactive and active internet usage has been encouraged and the trend is further developing. The social media applications provide its users with communities and online networks for knowledge exchange and multi-directional communication (Fry 2004, p.305). Moreover, this application allows individuals to share and publish digital content like videos, photos and music. In the current world, the educational use of social software is not well incorporated. As such multiple actions are needed across practice, policy and developer communities prior to it becoming effective and widespread.