Web 2.0 and Education: Not Just Another Case of Hype, Hope and Disappointment?

It could be said that in the fast-changing field of education technology the initial excitement for a tool or application usually fades away as the next technology emerges on the horizon--leaving little or no room for critical evaluation of how it may best be used in educational settings. Some critics have identified this endless "pursuit of the new" as a major reason why the promises of educational technology are rarely fully realised. This viewpoint article argues that there is currently a real danger that this pattern is being repeated with Web 2.0. Keen readers of the educational technology literature will already be sensing that the attention of educational technology authors and commentators appears to be shifting once again, away from the now-familiar potential of Web 2.0 applications and towards the more exotic promises and potentials of the "semantic web" and "Web 3.0" technologies. In light of these trends, this short viewpoint reflects upon how to prevent Web 2.0 applications repeating the well-worn pattern of hype, hope and eventual disappointment that has characterised the discussion of educational technology over the past 30 years or so. In particular, it suggests a number of ways that a sustained and rigorous academic study of Web 2.0 applications may move the debate forward in ways that may see the realisation of at least some of the promises of an educational transformation.