Web-based Learning Solutions for Communities of Practice

Using Storytelling as the Pedagogical Model for Web-Based Learning
stories, and introduce storytelling as a model for
interaction in CoPs.
DEVELOPING STORY AUTHORING
TOOLS IN WEB 2.0
The past few years have seen large volumes of
user-generated content on the Web giving an ideal
platform for CoPs to share their experiences. Rich
Internet Applications (RIAs) allow users to post
and share multimedia information over the Web
for free. In 2007 the Time magazine proclaimed
“You” (the general computing public) as the “Person
of the Year” (Glass, 2007). The reasons given
for this choice included Web-based collaboration
opportunities, because:
It’s “about community and collaboration.”
It’s “about the many wresting power from the
few.”
It’s “the beast with a billion eyes”!
However, Glass (2007) argues against this
choice due to the misuse of the Web for frivolous
and salacious activities. Despite rampant misuse of
the Web, the fact remains that Web 2.0 tools such
as Blogs, RSS and Wikis have changed the way
we communicate and keep ourselves informed.
Current Web 2.0 Development
Environments
The Web 2.0 environments that provide tools
for building Rich Internet Applications include
AJAX, Flash and XULRunner (Farrell & Nezlek,
2007).
Asynchronous JavaScript
and XML (AJAX)
Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX)
provides a highly responsive user experience due
to the fact that it constantly loads small chunks
of data in the background (Paulson, 2005). This
aspect of AJAX makes it more responsive than the
languages such as Hyper Text Markup Language
(HTML) and Dynamic HTML (DHTML).
In an AJAX based application the client can
download information –such as graphics and data–
just once, and then these are updated incrementaly
in real-time. This reduces the system response
time appreciably (Backbase, 2008).
Advantages of AJAX
The asynchronous nature and other features of
AJAX have made it a popular choice for building
Rich Internet Applications. The main advantages
of AJAX framework include the following:
1. Applications are more responsive as they
don’t experience full-page reloading
delays.
2. It is based on open standards and widely used
languages, namely JavaScript and XML;
therefore it does not need plug-ins to run
applications.
3. Applications provide users with rich functionality
and operate with all Web-browsers
and platforms.
4. It is being used widely to build Web 2.0
applications.
Challenges with AJAX
However, AJAX has got some drawbacks as well,
these include:
1. It is a new technology, making the application
development more expensive.
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