Сборник научных статей международной научно-практической конференции «Современные тренды педагогического образования»

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how this type of web is one of the tools that may be used in English language 
teaching with great success.
The internet has existed for several decades now, and in that time it has changed 
profoundly. Think of a typical web page ten years ago, such as a company website, or 
an online article. The reader accessed the page, and read what was there – the page 
was static content. This was the stage of web development called Web 1.0. In the last 
few years, there has been a shift towards user-generated content produced by the 
internet user who can easily create and upload content to the sites. Internet users 
today are not just consumers of content put on the web by someone else; they now 
can both produce and consume web-based content. 
The term Web 2.0 was used for the first time in 2004. C.Decker needed “the new 
term to describe new trends in the development of the internet applications” . 
What are the main characteristics of Web 2.0? 
- the user participates in creating of the content 
- no central authority 
- open communication, sharing and re-using of information 
- web pages become sources of information and functions 
- profoundly organized and sophisticated hyperlink structure. 
There are many widely known web pages representing this type of web: e.g. 
Facebook, Wikis, blogs, YouTube, Google facilities etc. Most of them (if not all of 
them) may be successfully used in English language teaching.
The most important feature of Web 2.0 is its lack of hard boundary. It may be seen 
more as a set of principles and practices for further work on it. The crucial fact for the 
success of any Web 2.0 project is gaining a huge amount of unique information. The 
criticism of some people that these pages and projects do not have any proper design 
is quite out of the place – the design is not the main value. The main value of the 
projects is that they are made by the users themselves. This characteristic is one of the 
most important ones in connection to the educational process.
Web 2.0 has some advantages for teachers willing to use modern technology in their 
classrooms. 
As stated above, the web has undergone several changes in recent years. The 
development of more complex programming languages combined with more 
sophisticated web browsers have enabled users to access software tools online 
without downloading and, in many cases, without paying for them. 
The reason why there has been a shift towards user-generated content in the last few 
years is quite clear: the internet started to be used by more and more “non- IT people” 
who found that it could be a powerful tool for sharing their thoughts and opinions. 
Even though it is not without dangers, e.g. spread of amateurism or minority 
discrimination or ridiculing.
So this is why, instead of providing content, many web companies now provide 
platforms such as You Tube, Blogger, etc. Users of these services create and share 
their own content. The companies then raise money mainly from advertising. 

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Connection speeds have enabled the web to deliver audio, video and fast interactive 
games of high quality without any wait time. 
Interaction through websites and web services has become much more complex and 
users can now share a vast array of content and information and collaborate for more 
rapidly and easily. 
Most successful Web 2.0 products and services are free for anyone to use. This has 
been described as the “democratisation” of the web. It is no longer a broadcast 
medium controlled by website owners and web masters. Now anyone can contribute 
what they know and share it with anyone else. 
These changes have enhanced the learning potential of the web. Web 2.0 enables: 
1) Socialisation – through socialisation our students can use the language and skills 
they are learning to build networks and develop relationships with authentic people 
through commenting on the published content, for example. 
2) Collaboration – they can work together with others to construct and share authentic 
knowledge. 
3) Creativity – they can create genuine products, in a wide range and combination of 
media to high standards that will have a authentic audience. 
4) Authenticity – the tasks and activities they do and the people they communicate 
with to do them are authentic and motivating. 
5) Sharing – they can share what they create and learn from each other (Peachey: 
online). 
In other words, teachers and students can now produce content for the internet. They 
can set up blogs, create wikis, use podcasting, online slideshows and other tools. 
Getting the students to use Web 2.0 tools is hugely motivating. The students get to 
use modern technologies or, which is even better, they already use them in their 
personal lives. By publishing content, they potentially have a worldwide audience so 
they can make contact with other people involved in the same thing.
The same applies to teachers. They can participate in projects around the world (e.g. 
via online teachers’ networks) or produce their own podcasts, cartoons, slideshows or 
short video clips (as in my case). 
With Web 2.0 tools, teachers and students can now produce content of the internet. 
The teacher and their students can set up a blog. The teacher can also use other Web 
2.0 tools such as podcasting, online slideshows, or wikis to create internet-based 
content with their students. 
Getting the students to use Web 2.0 tools is hugely motivating for them for a number 
of reasons. They get to use up-to-date internet-based technologies, some of which 
they may already use in their personal lives. By publishing content on the internet, 
they potentially have a worldwide audience of the users of the same websites, and 
they will be that much keener to produce good quality work. You can also make 
contact with other teachers from around the world and set up online projects with 
them to encourage your students to visit and comment on the blogs, podcasts, 
cartoons, slideshows, and so on of a class in another country. 

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Undoubtedly, there are various platforms that may be to a great extend exploited by 
teachers in English language teaching. We will focus on some of them in this 
subchapter. 
Teachers may, and the every-day practice shows that they really do, set up weblogs. 
These Weblogs may be either purely professional (e.g. Lindsay Clandfield’s blog 
called Six Things) or semi-professional, where teachers present their findings from 
their teaching process together with their personal acknowledgements (e.g. Michelle 
Worgan’s blog “So this is English”). We feel from my personal experience that it is 
nowadays quite common to set up a blog, especially because it is an easy way of 
keeping in touch with the worldwide teaching community. 
More than ever before, LMS systems are used in general practice. They help teachers 
to concentrate all the necessary resources in the one place, under one “roof”. One of 
the most prominent ones nowadays is the system called Moodle. Courses created in 
Moodle may be updated almost any time and any place. They may serve as a platform 
not only for teaching and learning but also for testing the students. Again, if the tasks 
are suitably chosen, they serve as a support in the knowledge creation process. 
Moodle is nowadays used as a means of blended learning (part face-to-face and part 
online) or pure online courses used for e-learning.
Teachers may also use various Google Tools. The basic one is Gmail (Google email 
account) or Google Documents. Teachers may send homework assignments via 
Gmail, they may send other important information concerning the course or give 
students feedback on their work. Google Documents is a platform that enables the 
users to make documents. It functions as a standard word processor. Teachers and 
students may then exchange the documents without sending it as an attachment of an 
email and they may also share them with other people who (if they have the 
permission) may also edit the document. 
Students may basically profit in the same way from the platforms as those mentioned 
in the previous subchapter about teachers. Moreover, there are some other benefits 
that need to be mentioned. 
Concerning Weblogs, it is very common for young people to set them up. Teenagers 
quite naturally need to share their thoughts and feelings. In past, it was quite common 
to write diaries; nowadays this function is taken over by Weblogs. It is quite natural 
then, if teachers use them in their lessons. 
Blogging does not need any extra knowledge and it takes as much skill as sending an 
e-mail. As mentioned above, blogs are full of reflections and are updated quite often. 
The reader may read the content and react to it. In other words, “it demands 
interaction”. As Richardson says, “blogging is a genre that engages students and 
adults in a process of thinking in words, not simply and accounting of the day’s 
events or feelings”. 
Students may post their work online for response. They may archive their work and 
create and online portfolio of their work. Students can collaborate with others online. 
Weblogs also support different learning styles which is why they remarkably enable 
the process of knowledge construction. 

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Students may also use Gmail to communicate with each other or with their teachers in 
English. Google Documents enables them to share documents they have to work on 
in groups or as a class. 
The teachers may also set up a Wiki. The word itself comes from Hawaiian and it 
means “quick” or “quickly”. The Wiki nowadays is a tool easy to use, both for 
teachers and students. Wikis may form a vital part of standard lessons or they may 
function as a help for teachers, especially if the school or other institution is 

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