Web 2.0-Based E-Learning: A Probe into the Application of Online Social Networking in College Freshman English Curriculum

Interaction, sharing, and connection are at the heart of Web 2.0, giving rise to innovative online media usage and the concept social networking that have transformed not only the network behavior of the masses, but also the form of online learning. In college English learning courses, Web 2.0 provides real-time and easily-accessible online resources for students to search for the information they need, granting them more autonomy in the English learning process. Meanwhile, Web 2.0-based network tools and video-sharing platform, such as Wikipedia and podcasts, provide a user-oriented and user-centered mechanism that allows personal creation, cooperative creation, interactive social networking, and peer-to-peer mutual learning, as an extension to the scope of autonomous English learning. In addition, with the rising popularity of Web 2.0-inspired social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and blogs, the concept of social networking should also be increasingly incorporated into language education, since it promotes online interactions among English learners, while facilitating the establishment of information sharing, data query, and learning partnership in the network learning community. Thus, this project exploits Web 2.0-based online learning as the framework to design freshman English materials fusing social learning elements, for the purpose of boosting students’ interests for enhanced learning effectiveness, expanding e-learning into s-learning.