The Effect of Web 2.0 on the Teaching and Learning Processes in a Developing Country’s Universities

Teaching and learning in all aspects of education have taken a dramatic change all over the world today due to the advent of the Internet. Before the Internet came into existence, teaching and learning have always been carried out within classroom environments. But with the Internet, teaching and learning may take place outside the classroom environments. The Internet has made e-learning a reality because students may receive their lectures through the Internet irrespective of geographic locations. Ideally, distance learning programmes are meant for people who are engaged in some full-time jobs. These people may not easily leave their jobs for full-time programmes. Often times, distance learning programmes are online in nature, hence they are usually referred to e-learning. E-learning is one directional in nature and is usually teacher-centered. In other words, the learners are passively involved in the learning process, and as such cannot make contributions to the learning process in which they are directly involved. The learning process in web 2.0 is participatory, hence both the teacher and the learner may engage in dialogue through a web application. This makes the learning process an active one. This study will examine the effect of web 2.0 on the teaching and learning processes of a developing country such as Nigeria’s universities with emphasis on University of Abuja. In the study, questionnaires are to be randomly distributed to teachers and students of University of Abuja to ascertain the effect of web 2.0 in the teaching and learning processes within the university.Data to be collected will be analyzed in other to find the effect of web 2.0 in the teaching and learning processes in the university.