My Vision

2011 VOF Week 1
WEB 2.0

What if my primary and high school education had been aided by the use of Web 2.0?? I would like to think that life would have been much simpler, my education a lot more productive and altogether more fun!

From the time l discovered it for myself, l have gorged on nuggets and chunks of all kinds of facts, general knowledge and every so often, general ignorance!

I never tested well in school and even though l was one of the more confident academically, no matter how hard l studied and how well l did in the classroom exercises, l always managed to fail the tests and exams. With a more relaxed atmosphere, however, l came to realise that l was more confident and that l was not alone.

In working with women from all walks of life and from different backgrounds, l have been overwhelmed by the number of very intelligent people l come across who feel as though they haven’t much to offer the world or even those closest to them based purely on the fact hat they did not do so well in school as they never enjoyed the learning process. With the use of Web 2.0, however, many have managed to educate themselves since leaving school and have found their lives to be emotionally, spiritually as well as academically enriched by doing so as they expand their horizons and discover worlds they never new existed.

Not only is actual content always available on the web, but there are always more ways to learn; e.g.; text, aural, visual stills and animations, interactive or passive. Certain learning disabilities can even be aided. With the use of humor, music and other artforms, many websites such as iVillage are able to draw in audiences and participants to weave a very rich tapestry experience in order to educate in a way that is accessible to all not just a privileged few. This is something l hope to emulate in my journey to teach and learn because l feel that so many of us, men and women are unaware of the things happening around us, let alone on other continents. I feel very strongly that women will, by coming together, start a revolution in the no-too-distant future and be the one people seek for knowlwdge.

The most important aspect of Web 2.0 though for me is that it is helping to usher in the end of single-source “news” and bringing an awareness of the wider world to the smallest of communities and to the most isolated of the world’s citizens.