Web 1.0 learning

Relative popularity of search terms web 1.0, web 2.0 & web 3.0 from 2004-2024
(Source: Google Trends, trends.google.com)

The nature of web 1.0

The term web 1.0 refers to the first version of the web, sometimes also known as the informational web, which developed from 1991 onwards, following its invention by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989-1991. It is distinct from web 2.0, the social web, which began to emerge around the year 2000. Web 1.0 was essentially a source of information created by a small number of authors for a very large number of relatively passive users. It consisted largely of static webpages with little room for real interactivity. Thus, it functioned much like a large reference book, or indeed a whole library of reference books.

Until the emergence of web 2.0, of course, we didn’t need to talk about versions of the web: therefore, the term web 1.0 was created retrospectively after the advent of web 2.0 to help differentiate the informational from the social web. The Google Trends graph at the top of this page shows the relative incidence of Google searches for the terms web 1.0, web 2.0 and web 3.0 over the years 2004-2024. While web 2.0 is clearly the most popular of the three terms, its usage has tailed off in recent years, partly due to the rise of alternative terms (such as social media) and partly because it’s no longer necessary to specify that we’re talking about web 2.0, since these days it’s simply assumed that when we refer to the web, we are referring largely to the social web. However, there was also a small but noticeable increase in interest in web 3.0 in 2022, with some continuing interest perhaps partly related to the growth of generative AI.

It’s important to realise that web 1.0 hasn’t disappeared. It still exists but is now overlaid with the more social web 2.0 (increasingly intermixed with elements of web 3.0). For a comparison of web 1.0 with web 2.0 and even web 3.0, see the resources listed below. Note that the first was written by Tim O’Reilly, who was responsible for initially popularising the term web 2.0. Arguably, the more recent resources in the list, having the benefit of hindsight with respect to the development of the web, present the clearest picture of the differences. Note that the final article in the list (Terra, 2023) even contains some speculation on the nature of web 4.0.

• • What is Web 2.0 (Tim O’Reilly, 2005)
  • Web 2.0 for Designers (Richard MacManus & Joshua Porter/Digital Web Magazine, 2005)
  • Key Differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 (Graham Cormode & Balachander Krishnamurthy/First Monday, 2008)
  • Quora: What are the Main Differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0? (Various authors, approx. 2010 – present)
  • What are the Major Differences among Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0? (WittyCookie, 2012)
  • Evolution of the Web 1.0, 2.0 & 3.0 – Differences & Features (Hugo Delgado/AKUS.net, 2022)
  • Comparison between Web 1.0, Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 (Madhurkant Sharma/GG, 2023)
  • What is Web 1.0, Web 2.0, and Web 3.0? Definitions, Differences and Similarities (John Terra, 2023)

Learning with web 1.0

Compared to pre-digital education, web 1.0 offers advantages in terms of student autonomy, use of authentic materials and scenarios, exposure to multiliteracies, and a limited level of interactivity. However, the main educational uses of web 1.0 tend to fall into two categories: information retrieval (as in webquests) or rote training (as in drills). These correspond to very traditional models of pedagogy: a transmission model in the former case, and a behaviourist training model in the latter. Notwithstanding more sophisticated uses (such as webquests for problem-based learning, or drill exercises for guided discovery), such activities are typically not aligned with the social constructivist approach which underpins much of the educational use of web 2.0.

In the pages in this section, you’ll find accounts of many of the major web 1.0 and web 1.0-related tools and techniques, with guidance on how to use them in a variety of educational contexts. These include drills, gamification, quizzes, webquests, and websites.

Last update: January 2024.