Anyway Web 3.0 is apparently just around the corner (2010 – see Nova Spivack’s timeline below). Also known as the ‘Intelligent web’ or the ‘semantic web’ this current incarnation is even to be an evolution on the previous in which the web becomes more intelligent in the way it looks for and receives information – it does a lot of work for you, (Good Old Wikipedia Definition). And because it has not arrived yet there’s no fixed definition. Indeed around a year ago I recall the next step upward from Web 2.0 as being ‘3D web’ which encapsulates virtual world elments into browser, Photosynth is a good example (Web Link).

To be honest I’m more interested in the notion of Web 4.0 which is predicted by Nova Spivack at Radar Technologies to arrive around the year 2020 (How the WebOS Evolves? – Web Link and the image below). At present Web 4.0 is characterised by intelligent personal agents which in our current context could be represented by the people patterns and profile elements that Amazon use to recommend purchases. In terms of education and e-learning we might be seeing a situation in which the student progresses along a learning pathway not only influenced by their degree/tutors but also by who they know, their interests, career objectives, progression in particular subjects etc. And I think this might not be too far off.

Click here to see the Nova Spivack time line

The key question is however how (if possible) could this be accommodated to achieve a sound education, (in particular I’m also thinking of how this relates to the notion of ‘pedagogy 2.0’ in my previous post)?

And another issue is what if the agents get it wrong? For example I’ve recently bought book on dog breeding as a one-off present only to find that Amazon now continually throws similar book items to me.

And web 4.0, if truly embodied by people patterns, also runs the risk of trapping you into a constricted pathway.

Susan Smith Nash sums this up in her blog post (Web 3.0, Web 4.0 and Personal Agents: Will They Open or Restrict Choice? – Web Link ). She defines web 4.0: “Web 4.0 will, in theory, include an array of sensors that will gather information from one’s environment and use them to create a deep profile of your behaviours and activities.” So there are learning potentials here.

However she also observes “However, will you be held hostage to your old patterns? Will the information actually restrict your options?”. An important point as web 4.0 might not be too appealing. She ends with a warning “Clearly, the tendency in the future might be to simply repeat and reinforce what one already knows, with expansions, revisions, and tightening focus. The ability to branch out and think about obscure, unrelated, even random things can and will be seriously constricted in the world of Web 4.0 as envisioned now.”.

As my fellow cell mate Ian says: ‘If web 2.0 is defined as user generated content, then is web 4.0 content generated users?’

As always happy to receive comments.