Incorporating Web 3.0 in E-Learning

The earliest generation of web is termed as Web 1.0, also known as read-only web. It is simple making content available for viewing only. The readers cannot interact with the author. The improvement over web 1.0 engendered the current version of web i.e. web 2.0. 

With the evolution of web, the e-learning as also been evolving through various phases viz. elearning 1.0, elearning 2.0 and elearning 3.0. 

Web 2.0 has transformmed the classroom and passive learning into an active participants. The learning process has been made more effective. These days, the online learning is far better than traditional learning in many aspects of learning. 

The future of web i.e. Web 3.0 is still in infancy and yet to be matured. Web 2.0 has engendered silos of data generated by social medias. Trillions of data being generated online are yet to be used. An astounding statistics by Forrester Research (2006) shows that 97% of the users never look beyond the top three search result when they are searching over their preferred search engines. 

Artificial Intellingence and Machine Learning are the drivers of Web 3.0. It is assumed that web 3.0 will solve the problem of getting plethora of unrelated information in search engines by providing context to searching for online information. .

Incorporating Web 3.0 in e-learning is supposed to provide a deeper and better understanding of the learning process by the use of AI and data mining. Though e-Learning 3.0 systems are not prevalent commercially, however researchers are proposing such solutions as proof-of-concepts or working prototypes. One of the first online services to use semantic web automatically and intelligently organizing information about users’ specific interests is Twine. (Spivack’s, 2010) Another example of a true e-learning 3.0 system is AHKME (Adaptive Hypermedia Knowledge Management E-Learning Platform) an e-Learning Information System having learning requirements compliant with a Web 3.0 philosophy (Rego, 2011). 

Source : IADIS International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2012)