Web 2.0’s social networking applications increasingly provide us with a democratic, open and free virtual network for exchanging ideas. This article from the Global University Network for Innovation examines some of the implications of social networking technologies for the way knowledge is being shared and constructed in post-secondary education. It concludes:
Social networking technologies have the potential to enhance the dynamics of communication between life, work and school, thus creating meaningful educational experiences, adapted to both students’ expectations and Information Society’s requirements, taking into account that we are now in a true global society, and thus Higher Education Institutions must provide the knowledge to develop a global citizenship. This also leads to an emotion-related type of learning.
What remains the core challenge of the adoption of Web 2.0 in Higher Education is the balance that must be made between the necessary conservative part of Education, which is necessary to preserve past human effort and talent, as also traditional skills and knowledge legacy, and the possibilities that technology introduces in terms of students’ self expression and co-construction of knowledge.