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Advances in E-learning-Experiences and Methodologies

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E-Learn<strong>in</strong>g 2.0<br />

represent<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formation that is accessed by means<br />

of classical protocols, hence, they are more languages<br />

than protocols, but, as they <strong>in</strong>clude state<br />

<strong>in</strong>formation <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>structions for the access <strong>and</strong><br />

retrieval of <strong>in</strong>formation, they are usually known<br />

as protocols. Nowadays, Web service providers<br />

are us<strong>in</strong>g RSS/ATOM feeds as lightweight alternatives<br />

to SOAP. Developers are f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g new ways<br />

to comb<strong>in</strong>e Web services from different sites <strong>in</strong>to<br />

new applications, known as “mash-ups” <strong>in</strong> the<br />

l<strong>in</strong>go of Web 2.0.<br />

RSS states for Really Simple Syndication, <strong>and</strong>,<br />

<strong>in</strong>deed, it is. RSS is a very simple document that<br />

provides users with a title, an abstract <strong>and</strong> a l<strong>in</strong>k<br />

to the <strong>in</strong>formation. To overcome the limitations<br />

of such a simple solution, a more flexible <strong>and</strong><br />

powerful format have appeared with the name<br />

of ATOM.<br />

other networks <strong>in</strong> the network<br />

Although the Web is the most successful <strong>and</strong><br />

representative service <strong>in</strong> the Internet, we should<br />

not forget other <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> very promis<strong>in</strong>g<br />

networked services that are also earn<strong>in</strong>g great<br />

acceptance <strong>and</strong> expectation.<br />

Peer to peer networks are frequently proposed<br />

as the alternative to a centralized <strong>and</strong> easy-to-control<br />

network. These services rely on the comput<strong>in</strong>g<br />

resources of every participant, <strong>in</strong>stead of rely<strong>in</strong>g<br />

on the giant servers of commercial providers.<br />

This approach allows support<strong>in</strong>g services with<br />

the resources provided by the users themselves.<br />

There are no scalability problems as newcomers<br />

contribute with new resources to the network.<br />

Some examples of this approach are file shar<strong>in</strong>g,<br />

<strong>in</strong> which b<strong>and</strong>width <strong>and</strong> storage are shared<br />

(eDonkey, eMule or BitTorrent), comput<strong>in</strong>g grid<br />

projects, <strong>in</strong> which spare comput<strong>in</strong>g time is shared<br />

(SETI at home or BOINC), <strong>and</strong> Internet telephony,<br />

<strong>in</strong> which b<strong>and</strong>width <strong>and</strong> geographical proximity<br />

are shared (Skype).<br />

wInds oF chAnge BLowIng<br />

the weB: weB 2.0 And the<br />

InFormAtIon socIety<br />

Web 2.0 affects all aspects of life, from the private<br />

<strong>and</strong> fun sphere to work environments, from an<br />

<strong>in</strong>dividual level to a group level. In short, Web<br />

2.0 becomes an enabler to (Pr<strong>in</strong>z, 2006):<br />

• Turn an Internet presence <strong>in</strong>to a customer<br />

experience site<br />

• Turn a passive consumer <strong>in</strong>to a creative<br />

content provider<br />

• Enforce the l<strong>in</strong>k between Internet users <strong>and</strong><br />

Internet places<br />

• Support the self-organisation of communities<br />

• Create a social Web on top of the technical<br />

Web<br />

Currently, we can access lots of <strong>in</strong>formation<br />

<strong>and</strong>, at the same time, write our own content or<br />

leave comments. We are now the content generators.<br />

Education, market<strong>in</strong>g, journalism, <strong>and</strong> even<br />

politics is mov<strong>in</strong>g towards the reality 2.0.<br />

Market<strong>in</strong>g 2.0 is about gett<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>tegrated <strong>in</strong>to<br />

the message “constellation” (Thorson, 2006). Web<br />

2.0 gives companies the opportunity to reach<br />

thous<strong>and</strong>s of customers at a much lower cost.<br />

Companies need to underst<strong>and</strong> that their customers<br />

are their best marketers; a positive comment<br />

about a product or service is still more powerful<br />

than any commercials or pr<strong>in</strong>t ads. Until now, those<br />

comments took place at cocktail parties, where<br />

very few people knew about them. However, now<br />

the place is the blogosphere, where everybody can<br />

read <strong>and</strong> comment about them. In this sense, Polo<br />

(2006) gives her op<strong>in</strong>ion about the power of blogs:<br />

“imag<strong>in</strong>e a database <strong>in</strong> which you can search lots<br />

of conversations about your products, with good<br />

<strong>and</strong> bad op<strong>in</strong>ions... terrify<strong>in</strong>g, isn’t it?”<br />

Another <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g example is journalism,

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