Web 1.0 e-learning vs Web 2.0

I came across this e-learning resource today from the UK in my area of mental health promotion.

Looking at the preview-it just seem so much a one way conversation, so typical of Web 1.0.

I expect more and I suspect so does anyone I would try to interest in this course.

Yesterday I signed up for a free online conference and sent this onto my contacts and colleagues.

It has features I value:
* podcast keynote addresses from leading figures in the field
* live Q&A with presenters
* Scholarly articles with expert commentary
* publishing workshops


The session on Internet Technology and Social Capital: How the Internet Affects Seniors' Social Capital and Wellbeing from researchers at the University of Sydney is of particular interest to me.

Perhaps this is an application for the skills I seek to gather in this course. Building social capital is key way to reduce mental illness and promote mental well-being. I have been giving this some thought for a few weeks now.

The use of these new Web 2.0 technologies seems by this massive academic publisher to me to be a harbinger of the future. Also a good evidence dissemination strategy to get research into practice and to close the implementation gap between what we know and what we do.

Human Services 2.0 Paradigm

The term Human Services 2.0 refers to new possibilities and expectations for human services that arise from the Web 2.0 technologies.

Wikipedia itself a Web2.0 phenomena describes Web 2.0 as follows:

"Web 2.0" is commonly associated with web development and web design that facilitates interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Examples of Web 2.0 include web-based communities, hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs, mashups and folksonomies. A Web 2.0 site allows its users to interact with other users or to change website content, in contrast to non-interactive websites where users are limited to the passive viewing of information that is provided to them.”

The term Human Service 2.0 has the same relationship to Web 2.0 as the terms Business 2.0 , Enterprise 2.0, Government 2.0, Learning 2.0, Library 2.0, Medicine 2.0 and Social Work 2.0.

Web 2.0 technologies and the associated ways that people expect to make use of the internet is creating a paradigm shift in how services are organised.

Furthermore Web 2.0 technologies are undergoing exponential growth. There use is already significant. 40% growth in social networking is forecast per annual for the next 5 years. In a few years their application will pervasive.

This why I've joined this course. New competencies for a new paradigm.