Authorship 2.0

Web 2.0 (otherwise known as the Read/Write Web) has ignited a revolution in authorship. A rapidly expanding variety of freely available web-based tools support authorship in new and transformative ways, giving rise to what I am calling Authorship 2.0. While new tools are constantly emerging, and existing tools and categories are in a constant state of flux, these are a few relatively stable recent innovations in digital communication media that have generated great interest among authors of all varieties:

Forums are online discussions organized topically and chronologically. Whether public or private, forums are open to a number of participants who need not be online simultaneously to participate, as contributions can be posted asynchronously. Threaded discussions maintain the coherence of a given conversational thread, with a hierarchical format that tracks each chain of responses and how they are linked to each other.

Chats are real-time (synchronous) conversations online via text involving two or more people, often at a distance. Chatting (or instant messaging) often involves informal rhetoric, shorthand conventions, and emoticons to convey tone. As with any digital text, chats can be saved and transfered to other media.

A blog is a public online journal managed by a primary author who posts entries that appear chronologically. Blog posts are in digital hypermedia format, which means they can include text, images, links, video, audio, or animation. Readers can comment on blog posts, and bloggers can link to each other’s blogs and to other web sites.

A wiki is a web site that is open to many contributors who share authorship. Pages can be created, edited, organized, and discussed by different authors, and all changes are tracked. Authoring permissions are managed by wiki owners and may include a range of levels.

A podcast is a digital media broadcast via the internet, in either audio or video format, often through syndication feeds, for playback on a portable media player or personal computer. Podcasts allow radio shows, television segments, or homemade productions to be distributed widely for anywhere, anytime listening and/or viewing.

Digital multimedia productions take many different forms and can be distributed through many channels. For example, a slide show with text, images, and animation can be saved as a movie. Videos can be taken with a regular digital camera, imported into editing software to create movies, and then uploaded to a blog, an online social network, or any other web site.  Any digital media can be combined with any other digital media, and authors can share their digital creations with the world via the internet.

Every day makes new resources available to authors of all ages and experience levels, helping them engage in meaningful expression and interaction and make their voices heard all over the world. Though we have barely begun to explore the implications of the Web 2.0 revolution for authorship, I believe that these developments have a great deal to offer teaching and learning. That is the subject of this blog.