Web 2.0 as a Catalyst for Rethinking Teaching and Learning in Tertiary Education: A Case Study of KDU College (Malaysia)

Web 2.0 is the wave of Internet usage characterized by collaborative sharing, blogging, real-time journaling and other media applications broadly lumped under the heading of 'social networking media'. It signals a move away from the Internet as a mere collection of computers passively sharing information to seeing the Web as an active emergent network of people who are enabled to not only interact more closely but to collaboratively shape and create new realities. This paper first outlines five trends impacting education as a result of the Web 2.0 phenomenon which educational institutions cannot ignore (connectivism, digital creation, collaboration, divergent assessment and open courseware) then shares the research performed on faculty (incl. management) and students of KDU College (based in Petaling Jaya), the first college in Malaysia to implement an e-forum for the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education's compulsory subjects. The research sought to answer questions relating to the benefits and/or challenges which Web 2.0 have brought to teaching and learning, the extent to which the five characteristics have impacted the students, lecturers and management and future issues anticipated. This paper will highlight some key findings and attempt a generalization of Web 2.0 trends to tertiary education in Malaysia and recommend broad action-steps forward, both in the national context as well as the global one.