An evaluation of the usage of Web 2.0 among tertiary level students in Malaysia

Web 2.0 is increasingly becoming a familiar pedagogical tool in higher education, facilitating the process of teaching and learning. But this advancement in information technology has further provoked the problems like plagiarism and other academic misconduct. This paper evaluates the patterns of use and behavior of tertiary level students towards the use of Web 2.0 as an alternative and supplemental eLearning Portal. A total of 92 students´ data were collected and analyzed according to ´Self-Determination Theory´ (SDT). It was found that students use social websites for chatting, gamming and sharing files. Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia are ranked as the most popular websites used by college students. It also reveals that students have an inherent desire of expressing ideas and opinion online openly and independently. This sense of freedom makes students feel more competent, autonomous or participative and find learning to be less tedious. Therefore, this report, recommends educators to adopt strategies for acknowledging students´ feelings and activities online to reinforce positive behavior effective learning. Finally, we discussed the implications of Web 2.0 on education.