Tu, Blocher & Roberts ,2008)

The User is the Central Focus in Web 2.0 ( Dialogic Corporation, 2009)

“schools should set the bar for themselves … much higher. What schools should strive for is student empowerment." (Chris Lehmann as cited in Foote, 2010)

“Empowerment … means that we hand over the reins of learning to students so they own it. That doesn't mean that they have learned all they need to learn, but they'll establish a purpose for themselves" ( Foote, 2010)

User empowerment

:

Howe (2006)

Web 2.0

You Make It

You Name It

You Work on It

You Find It

Web 2.0 technologies empower users to create virtual representations of their real, hypothetical, hopeful, or perceived selves for the world to witness, these creations enable them to discover or express their opinion, views, critiques, professional image, professional work, or inner selves (King, 2009).

Web 2.0 empowers learners with multiple opportunities to take

control of how they improve their thinking and refine their

metacognitive strategies (Tu, Blocher &

Robert, 2008)

,

Web 2.0 technologies provide powerful opportunities to develop authentic voices and create empowering experiences for individuals. Web 2.0 technologies help learners to move from “the sidelines” of the rest of their lives, and be “center stage” in a learning environment of safety, respect, and empowerment (King, 2009, p. 55).

With Wikis, students can write, edit, add elements, such images and video, build on each other’s work, do research, analyze what they have read, synthesize it into useful knowledge , and contribute their work (Solomon & Schrum, 2010)

Wiki environments empowered student journalists in generating, reviewing, and organizing their own content in news writing (Ma &Yuen, 2008)

The personal expressive dynamics of blogging help restore a vital sense of individual empowerment and valorization; Blogs foster ‘centered communication’ in which the individual is recognized and valued as part of a more equitable community of empowered learners (Farmer, 2006, pp. 95-96).

Podcast created a space where students in an introductory technology course in a business college are empowered to express themselves creatively (Frydenberg, 2006)

Twitter, Twitpic, Facebook and YouTube played a great role in Egyptian protest in January 25, 2011against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule (Ungerleider, 2011)

Did you ever think that Facebook, twitter and youtube technologies would help bring a government like Egypt’s to its knees?

References: Collis, B. & M oonen, J. (2008, June). Educational Media International, 45(2), 93-

106. Farmer, J. (2006). Blogging to basics: How blogs are bringing online education

back from the brink. In A. Bruns & J. Jacobs (Eds.), Uses of blogs (pp. 91-103). New York: Peter Lang.

Dialogic Corporations. (2009). The Emergence and empowerment of Web 2.0. DialogicRetreieved Feb 22, 2011, from http://www.dialogic.com/products/docs/whitepapers/11339-web2-0-wp.pdf

Edgingtion, S. (2011). Facebook plays a major Role in Egyptian protests. Retrieved Feb 22, 2011, from http://www.shawnedgington.com/technology/facebook/facebook-plays-a-major-role-in-egyptian-protests/

Foote, C. (2010). Empowering students for life. Multimedia & Internet@School, 17(2), 28-31.

Frydenberg, M. (2006). Principles and pedagogy: The two P’s of podcasting in the information technology classroom. Proc ISECON ,23, 1-10.

King, K. (2009). From the sidelines to center stage: Opportunities to discover coice and empowerment through Web 2.0 and new media for LGBTQ adult learners. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource development, 23(3), 55-64.

Howe, J. (2006). Your Web, you way. Time, 168(26), 60-61. Ma, W. & Yuen, A. (2008, Dec). News writing using wiki: Impacts on

learning experience of student journalists. Educational Media International, 45( 4), 295–309.

Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2010). Web 2.0: How-to for educators. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.

Tu, C., Blocher, M. & Roberts, G. (2008, Dec.). Constructs for Web 2.0 learning environment: A theatrical metaphor. Educational Media International, 45(4), 253-269

Ungerleider, N. (2011). Massive Egyptian protests powered by YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Twitpic [Pics, Video, Updates] . Retrieved Feb 22, 2011, from http://www.fastcompany.com/1720692/egypt-protests-mubarak-twitter-youtube-facebook-twitpic