Abstract
The current discussion about the diversity and relevance of Web 2.0 or Social Web applications is giving the Internet a boost of attention. Public discourse is dominated above all by the possibilities of representation and community building based on participation and collaboration. Users post their own films on video platforms, comment on online articles, keep their own private blogs or present themselves in virtual social networks and become content producers themselves with these activities. In addition to economic and political hopes, this evolution of the internet is also explicitly linked to pedagogical hopes. This development is seen both as an opportunity to form a new learning culture and as a long-awaited technical translation of didactic/constructivist learning concepts. Informal learning, individual and self-directed learning, but also cooperative, collaborative or mobile are the buzzwords that dominate within the pedagogical discussion. Despite all the euphoria, however, it should not be overlooked that these potentials by no means become reality through technology alone. Active participation, successful self-expression and learning and educational processes require more than the mere existence of the technical possibilities. In addition to media studies perspectives on the social web and the discussion about the emergence of new learning cultures, we will explore the question of the conditions under which these developments can take place. In view of the technological progress and the changed habits of use of the internet, previous concepts of learning and education should be reconsidered.
