By Larry G. Martin, PhD
The relentless evolution of Web 3.0 innovative digital technologies has created a need for adult learners (regardless of their educational level or employment status) to access and use these technologies for learning and education. Learning is a process that mediates between humans and the societal structures developed by people (Illeris, 2004). Through learning, individuals develop knowledge, abilities, emotions, and sociality, which are essential elements of society's conditions and raw material (Illeris, 2004). Although Web 3.0 is now in its infancy, it is the latest iteration of web-based digital technologies that have disrupted, for three decades, how adults learn, work, and interact. Successive waves of these technologies have shaped our learning, social, and commercial interactions since the emergence of Static Web 1.0 in the 1990s to the current Dynamic Web 2.0 (Saporito, 2023). A major contribution of the Static Web was providing read-only web pages that lacked interactive features but provided quick access to data and information. Although its impact on adult learning and education was marginal, it paved the way for Web 2.0.
The Emergence of Web 2.0
The emergence of the Dynamic Web (2.0) activated core elements of the Static Web that improved the amount and level of user interactivity, social connectivity, and user-generated content that can be accessed globally (Saporito, 2023). It unleashed tremendous changes as workplaces, commercial enterprises, and learners adjusted to a new digital world. Adult learners can now conveniently and rapidly access a wide variety of digital content through mobile internet and social networks, powerful mobile cellphone devices, digital apps (e.g., Facebook, Twitter [now X]), and others (Saporito, 2023). Using 5-G technology, adult learners can communicate with each other and instructors, create content, and access various digital learning tools (e.g., web pages, social media networks, learning management systems, online learning platforms and learning apps, books, articles, news, etc.). However, little was known about how adults have adopted and used Web 2.0 innovative technology tools for personal and job-related activities. Therefore, a 2015 Pew Research Center investigation surveyed a national sample of 2,752 U.S. adults. It found most adults professed to have lower levels of digital skills and trust in the online environment (Horrigan, J. 2016).
Over half (52%) of U.S. adults were unlikely to use digital tools in their learning (Horrigan, 2016). Most non-users were women, adults aged 50 and older, racial minorities, people living in lower-income households, and individuals with lower levels of formal education. A middle group of about 31 percent of adults reported having technology resources available and acknowledged the ability to use the internet to pursue their learning interests confidently (Horrigan, 2016). However, these adults reported they were not energetically involved in electronic learning at a high level. Only 17% of U.S. adults expressed confidence in their abilities to use digital tools to pursue learning and were actively engaged as learners (Horrigan, 2016).
These survey results suggest that the Web 2.0 digital revolution may be viewed as intimidating and a cause for apprehension among adults who currently (or may soon) find themselves possessing irrelevant skills and abilities in a new and evolving digital economy. However, like two sides of a coin, this revolution also creates digital learning tools and opportunistic pathways for adults to continue learning. An increasing list of digital learning tools is now available to provide adults with free and subscription-based access to previously unreachable levels of knowledge and skills. Adults can now harness the power of automation and connectivity to amplify their performances in a wider range of contexts. By mastering digital learning tools, this tumultuous change can be transformed into an empowering journey, leading to a new era of increased opportunities and potential as we witness the rise of Web 3.0.
The Emergence of Web 3.0
Web 3.0 continues to emerge during the 2020s, and it is overhauling and modernizing our learning and educational tools as it is simultaneously transforming our workplaces, classrooms, and broader communities. Web 3.0 also connects to and integrates four emerging computing technologies: spatial technologies (such as artificial and virtual reality); physical technologies (e.g., Internet of things); cognitive technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence); and distributed technologies (e.g., Blockchain) (René, 2019). Some of its key features include:
- Decentralization of web-based information and its storage in multiple locations simultaneously.
- Trustless and permissionless transactions that allow users to interact directly without an intermediary or permission authorization from a governing body.
- Natural language data processing of textual data.
- Connectivity and ubiquity allow information and content access by multiple applications and an increasing number of web-connected everyday devices (Saporito, 2023).
A more fully developed Web 3.0 will employ artificial intelligence and machine learning information processing to produce faster and more relevant user results.
Web 3.0 transformations are expected to replace our traditional and comfortable workplace knowledge and educational practices and reforge them entirely. Although decentralizing the web and permissionless systems will give users much greater control over their personal data, it also carries legal and regulatory risks (e.g., increases in cybercrime, hate speech, and misinformation). For example, in 2018, Microsoft employed over 800 editors to help select and curate news stories shown to millions of readers worldwide as they login to devices using Microsoft software (O’Sullivan & Gordon, 2023). In recent years, Microsoft laid off editors and replaced them with Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots to scrape the web for newsworthy stories shared with readers. This strategic decision is being connected to the websites’ recent proliferation in the publishing of false and bizarre stories (e.g., false claims that President Joe Biden fell asleep during a moment of silence for victims of the Maui wildfire) and unprincipled actions (e.g., the creation of an auto-generated poll asking readers inappropriate questions after reporting human tragedies), and amplifying stories published on obscure fringe outlets (O’Sullivan & Gordon, 2023). This scenario of replacing some humans with technology while retaining others to manage these technologies is expected to play out in numerous workplaces as Web 3.0 technologies are improved and adopted by employing institutions and organizations. By using digital learning tools located in personal learning hubs (i.e., a digital learning tool kit), adults can upskill and reskill to stay ahead of the arc of Web 3.0 change.
Web 3.0 Digital Learning Tools and Resources
Personal digital learning hubs are spaces created on cell phones, computers, and digital tablets that provide 5-G internet-connected technology-rich learning environments with both physical components and virtual apps that provide formal and informal learning opportunities. The thoughtful creation of hubs comprised of targeted Web 3.0 digital technologies to address their learning needs has the potential to provide accessible, affordable, and private means for adults to stay more easily engaged as lifelong learners, workers, and active citizens. However, a dizzying array of digital tools are available, and each has distinctive characteristics and attributes that might be helpful to adult learners.
In this online forum, I will identify and describe the primary attributes of these technologies that make them attractive for adult learners, how they are used for education and learning, how they currently influence adult learning, and the key limitations that might inhibit their use. Examples of these technologies include (but are not limited to): large language model AI tools; online learning platforms; mobile elearning platforms and gamification; immersive augmented and virtual reality; the Internet of things and wearables; learning analytics and big data; smart adaptive learning management systems; blockchain technology; and others (see figure 1).
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| Figure 1: Personal Learning Hub of Web 3.0 Digital Learning Tools |
Building a highly integrated and interconnected personal technology hub is essential for lifelong learners seeking to identify, store, and deploy digital teaching and learning tools and resources. An in-depth analysis of the different categories of Web 3.0 teaching and learning technologies would allow learners to identify which digital tools and systems can be helpful and adopted for their toolkit to achieve specific learning goals.
Up Next: Large Language Model AI Tools for Lifelong Learning
In my next blog post, I analyze the key features and capabilities of four large language models (i.e., ChatGPT, Claud, Bing, and Bard) that can be used as AI digital learning assistants.
Larry G.
Martin, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus,
UWM
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References
Horrigan, J.B. (2016). Digital Readiness Gaps. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/09/20/digital-readiness-gaps/
Illeris,
K. (2004). The three dimensions of learning: Contemporary learning
theory in the tension field between the cognitive, the emotional and the social.
Roskilde University Press.
O’Sullivan, D. & Gordon, A. (2023). How Microsoft is making a mess of the news after replacing staff with AI. https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/02/tech/microsoft-ai-news/index.html
René, G. & Mapes D. (2019). The Spatial Web: How web 3.0 will connect humans, machines and AI to transform the world‖ Paperback.
Saporito, S. (2023). Web 3.0 Explained, Plus the History of Web 1.0 and 2.0. https://www.investopedia.com/web-20-web-30-5208698
