Web 2.0 and Online Learning - A Response to a New Type of Learner

Over the last few years, for many new developments in business or marketing (or in an field really), it has become fashionable to attach a "2.0" at the end of a name in reference to "Web 2.0". There are marketing campaigns called "Banking 2.0" or magazines titled "Business 2.0". These things aren't necessarily related to a Web 2.0 service or philosophy. The creators of these new services may just be trying to ride the current public fascination with the term. Unfortunately, these marketers and business folks are missing the real point. "New and improved" shouldn't be the focus. Web 2.0 is about the how people are viewing and interacting in the world in a different way than ten or twenty years ago.