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This special issue aims to increase the awareness of the organisational factors that enterprises must reflect on and address when introducing Web 2.0 technologies into their organisations. In contrast to empirical studies that review the impact of Web 2.0 technologies in organisations in terms of how they might support knowledge sharing or communities of practice, this special issue intends to identify the salient criteria that management practitioners must address to assist in the implementation of Web 2.0 technologies in the work place.

This special issue aims to increase the awareness of the organisational factors that enterprises must reflect on and address when introducing Web 2.0 technologies into their organisations. In contrast to empirical studies that review the impact of Web 2.0 technologies in organisations in terms of how they might support knowledge sharing or communities of practice, this special issue intends to identify the salient criteria that management practitioners must address to assist in the implementation of Web 2.0 technologies in the work place.

One of the principal findings that have emerged from this special issue is that it indicates the importance of reviewing social and cultural factors in organisations when introducing Web 2.0 technologies in the work place. In addition to assessing technical issues that might impact on the implementation of Web 2.0 technologies in organisations this special issue also explores subject matters such as the dilemma of whether a top-down or a bottom-up approach is more effective towards engaging staff in the adoption of Web 2.0 tools at work.

The research presented in this special issue provides an important academic contribution towards an area that is, at present, under researched namely, whether there is a structured approach that can be universally applied by organisations when internally implementing Web 2.0 technologies into their work place.

This chapter provides a comprehensive review of research and developments relating to the use of Web 2.0 technologies in education. As opposed to early educational uses of the Internet involving publication of static information on web pages, Web 2.0 tools offer a host of opportunities for educators to provide more interactive, collaborative, and creative online learning experiences for students. The chapter starts by defining Web 2.0 tools in terms of their ability to facilitate online creation, editing, and sharing of web content. A typology of Web 2.0 technologies is presented to illustrate the wide variety of tools at teachers’ disposal. Educational uses of Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis, blogs, and microblogging are explored, in order to showcase the variety of designs that can be utilized. Based on a review of the research literature the educational benefits of using Web 2.0 technologies are outlined, including their ability to facilitate communication, collaborative knowledge building, student-centered activity, and vicarious learning. Similarly, issues surrounding the use of Web 2.0 tools are distilled from the literature and discussed, such as the possibility of technical problems, collaboration difficulties, and plagiarism. Two case studies involving the use Web 2.0 tools to support personalized learning and small group collaboration are detailed to exemplify design possibilities in greater detail. Finally, design recommendations for learning and teaching using Web 2.0 are presented, again based on findings from the research literature.

This chapter synthesizes findings from the reviews of education using Web 2.0, social networking, mobile learning, and virtual worlds, in light of the earlier chapters on context, technology, pedagogy, content, and design. Benefits and issues associated technology-enhanced learning are generalized, with an important finding being the quite different ways that different technologies contribute to each. Twenty technology-enhanced learning design principles are derived from abstracting the Web 2.0, social networking, mobile learning, and virtual worlds literature. The benefits, issues, and technology-enhanced learning design principles are then related to one another by virtue of 13 clusters of concerns, namely pedagogy, access, communication, content representation, collaboration, motivation and engagement, vicarious learning and reflection, digital learning capabilities, assessment and feedback, student-centered learning, learning communities, protecting students, and teacher support. The analysis enables the general learning technology literature to be linked to concrete examples and evidential sources, so that educators and researchers can construct a deep and connected understanding of technology-enhanced learning design.

The paper aims to present the results of a survey of academic libraries about the adoption and perceived impact of Web 2.0 technologies.

A total of 67 US academic libraries participated among the members of the Association of Research Libraries.

It was found that each library was using some form of technology, such as RSS, blogs, social networking sites, wikis and instant messaging. On a Likert‐type scale the participant librarians significantly preferred the advantages of Web 2.0 over its disadvantages. There was a significant positive correlation between the extent of Web 2.0 adoption in libraries and librarians' opinion about their advantages.

The paper is useful for future planning of the use of Web 2.0 technologies in academic libraries.

This paper seeks to assess the extent to which learning and Web 2.0 technologies are utilised to support learning and teaching in Africa's higher learning institutions, with a specific focus on Tanzania's public universities.

A combination of content analysis and semi‐structured interviews was used to collect data. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with ICT personnel from six of the eight public universities in Tanzania in 2011.

The study found that the adoption of e‐learning and Web 2.0 technologies is still in its infancy in Tanzania's public universities. However, there was much enthusiasm amongst respondents for developing the potential of e‐learning and Web 2.0 tools in their universities.

The study seeks to promote academic inquiry about the need for innovative Web 2.0 technologies in learning and teaching and the adoption of these emerging technologies in Africa's higher learning institutions.

The study provides empirical findings on the use of e‐learning and Web 2.0 for higher education, specifically in the Tanzanian context. The study provides a basis for further research on the use of Web 2.0 technologies in higher education.

This paper aims to provide an overall picture of the application of Web 2.0 technologies in Australasian university libraries. The focus of the research was what types of Web 2.0 technologies were applied in such libraries as well as their purposes and features.

Content analysis was used in terms of quantitative approach. A checklist as the main research instrument was developed based on other checklists and questionnaires, and synthesized ideas from literature. Data were collected by accessing all Australasian university library web sites within two weeks. Then, Microsoft Excel was utilized as a main tool to synthesize and analyze data, and present results.

At least two‐thirds of Australasian university libraries deployed one or more Web 2.0 technologies. Only four Web 2.0 technologies were used for specific purposes and with some basic features. The general Web 2.0 application indexes were still low as the mean application index was 12 points and the highest index was 37 points (out of 100).

A combination of content analysis with survey and/or interview may enable future researchers to analyze other aspects (e.g. the application of internal wikis or the use of instant messaging for reference services) of Web 2.0 that a single method of content analysis could not gain.

This unique study explores the application of Web 2.0 in a wide scope including any Australasian university libraries that deployed any types of Web 2.0 technologies. This study is useful for Australasian university libraries in evaluating/deploying Web 2.0. Library managers, librarians and other university libraries may also find this helpful once they want to implement such technologies in their libraries.

This paper aims to investigate 152 pre-service and in-service school teachers’ perceptions toward Web 2.0 applications and their usage in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A five-point Likert scale questionnaire was used. The data were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and independent sample t-tests. The descriptive statistics were used to identify teachers’ perceptions toward Web 2.0 applications and their usage. The t-test was used to investigate the differences in perceptions between groups due to gender, and experience using computers and the Internet. The results showed that teachers have high perception toward Web 2.0 tools and services, but the extent to which they use Web 2.0 applications is somehow moderate. Moreover, no statistically significant differences in perception toward Web 2.0 were detected due to gender or experience using computers and the internet. Recommendations and suggestions for improving Web 2.0 integration into teaching and learning are proposed.

This study adopted the quantitative research approach using a questionnaire for data collection. The questionnaire was designed to investigate teachers’ perceptions of using Web 2.0 applications as a method for teaching and learning purposes.

The results showed high self-perception of teachers toward Web 2.0 and their use for improving students’ performance, which can be attributed to their awareness of Web 2.0 importance and benefit in education. On the other hand, results indicated a low use of most of Web 2.0 tools such as microblogging, audio file sharing, photo sharing and content developing. Again, these findings can be attributed to the lack of professional training on using Web 2.0. In addition, the results did not show significant differences between male and female teachers in using Web 2.0 applications with the exception of two items. Neither did the results show any significant differences between teachers who are beginners in using computers and the internet and teachers who are advanced. This could be because beginner users of computers and the internet have the same motivation as the advances users pertaining to teaching.

There must be an extensive training for teachers on how to use Web 2.0 tools to enhance their teaching. Infrastructure for the internet should be available so that teachers can use Web 2.0 without worrying about the technology infrastructure at their schools. More research studies should be conducted regarding the use of Web 2.0 by teachers and students alike. A qualitative and quantitative method of data collection should be used when investigating different aspects of Web 2.0. A comparison between K-12 teachers and higher education faculty members should be conducted pertaining to the use of Web 2.0 for education. A comparison study between pre-service and in-service teachers should be conducted to investigate Web 2.0 tools for educational and personal purposes.

The aim of this study was to explore the pattern and extent of the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies by Pakistani librarians.

A survey was conducted using web‐based surveying software (SurveyMonkey) and Pakistan based LIS e‐mail discussion groups. Professional librarians serving in all types of libraries participated in the study.

Instant messaging, blogs, social networking and wikis were the most popular Web 2.0 technologies. Librarians adopted such technologies in their professional and personal lives. Gender, length of professional experience and place of work have no effect on the frequency of use, while perceived skill level of internet use and perceived ease of Web 2.0 use have a significant effect on the frequency. Lack of computer literacy, and lower availability of computers and internet facilities were the major hindrances of Web 2.0 adoption by librarians. Awareness and training programs could enable librarians to cope with Web 2.0 technologies.

Due to the use of a non‐probability/non‐representative sampling method, the results cannot be generalized.

This study will create awareness among LIS professionals toward the use of advanced technology in their professional environment. The findings of this study will contribute to the successful adoption of Web 2.0 in libraries.

This is the first study on the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in Pakistani librarianship.

Web 2.0 technologies are becoming popular and are being used not only for social networking but also to facilitate communication and increase knowledge sharing in the work environment. Extensive research has been conducted in the past to understand the factors affecting the adoption and use of IT systems but few have studied the influence of national culture on such adoption models. When it comes to web 2.0 usage, the literature is only emerging and the role of national culture has not been addressed. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap.

In order to better understand the factors that affect the use of web 2.0 technologies and the influence of national culture on it, data were collected from 376 young adults in the age range of 18‐29 from the USA, Thailand and Bahrain. A model was developed and statistically tested to understand the influence of national culture traits, social grooming aspects, efficiency, online privacy, perceived usefulness, subjective norms and gender.

Based on the type of web 2.0 usage (expressive or instrumental) different variables were demonstrated to be significant predictors. For expressive usage, uncertainty avoidance, maintaining relationships, online privacy and perceived usefulness were significant. For instrumental usage, long‐term orientation and perceived usefulness were significant. A ranking of various types of web 2.0 usage was also created, showing very few differences among countries.

This research is the first step in a series of research activities that should be conducted to better understand the influence of culture in the adoption and usage of web 2.0 technologies. The sample was composed only of “Millennial” generation students and should be extended to other generations and to other countries with markedly different cultural profiles.

The findings of the paper help to better understand the usage of web 2.0 technologies by young adults who are about to enter the labor market and are likely to use Enterprise 2.0 applications in their work environment. Since web 2.0 technologies are centered on the concepts of communication, collaboration and information sharing, they will influence the behavior of future knowledge workers in terms of knowledge sharing. Accordingly, better understanding of web 2.0 use will help to improve the understanding of Enterprise 2.0 and knowledge management tools usage in a global environment.

This paper's original contribution stems from the fact that the influence of national culture on the use of web 2.0 has not yet been addressed in the literature.

This paper aims to provide an overall picture of the application of Web 2.0 technologies in Chinese university libraries. The focus of the research is what types of Web 2.0 technologies were applied in such libraries as well as their function and user interface.

The top 30 Chinese university libraries were selected to investigate the application of Web 2.0 technologies. Content analysis was used in terms of quantitative approach. Data were collected by accessing these 30 university libraries web sites within five weeks.

Two‐thirds of Chinese university libraries deployed one or more Web 2.0 technologies. Only one‐tenth of libraries adopted more than four Web 2.0 technologies. RSS was the most widely applied, while Wiki was the least. The application of Web 2.0 technologies among Chinese university libraries was not extensive and profound enough.

The findings can be utilized to evaluate the status of Web 2.0 technology applications. The statistical data are very useful and authentic sources for improving the level of Web 2.0 technology application. It may enable future research to analyze other aspects (e.g. the application of RSS or Blogs for services).

This unique study explores the application of Web 2.0 mainly in Chinese university libraries that deployed any types of Web 2.0 technologies. This study is very useful for Chinese university libraries in evaluating/deploying Web 2.0. Library managers, librarians, and other libraries may also find this helpful, once they decide to implement such technologies in their libraries.