Learning 2.0: Collaborative Technologies Transforming Learning Pattern s

Web 2.0 applications like blogs, wikis, online social networking sites, photo- and video-sharing sites and virtual worlds have known an exponentially increasing development and popularity over the past few years. Research evidence suggests that these revolutionary online tools have not only had an impact on people's private and professional lives, but are also starting to affect large organizations and institutional structures, leading them towards more collaborative and synergetic approaches. This process - intrinsically based on the latest online technologies - is extremely interesting to observe in the educational sector, as an enhanced efficiency at this level is further on naturally disseminated in all segments and fields of activity. Our paper aims at a general view of these new Internet technologies, only to sketch the basic context in which we will take a deeper look at the multiple ways of Web 2.0 applications transforming learning patterns and pathways.