Using ontologies to support learning in a web 2.0 environment

The Information Society dramatically increases the opportunities for knowledge sharing and acquisition. Social networks, communities of practice and online environments for content sharing are examples of Web 2.0 applications which allow users to establish new, or enforce existing connections with other users and share their experiences to create new knowledge. Social networks are therefore central to the new learning paradigms which are being developed, as exemplified by the three learning approaches depicted above. However, there are three important key factors to the success of these new educational paradigms: first of all, the competences of the individuals who take part in the formal or informal learning processes through social networks should be highlighted, in such a way to be easily recognized by other users. The use of ontologies and the related semantic web technologies allows us to create relationships between the students' ongoing educational experiences and the evolution of their social network. The result is a learning environment which is no longer based on the transmission of information from teacher to student but rather is focused on the ability of the students to play an active role in their learning activities.