About every ten years there is a “new and emerging” trend in the technology industry. The 1970's brought us the acceptance of Mainframes; 1980's brought the client server market; 1990's gave us the Internet; 2000's are bringing us “Web 2.0.” Each new trend does not mean the demise of the previous trend. We still have mainframes, PC's, servers, software, and Internet browsers. However, new trends layer on older established technologies, and enable us to provide new services to a growing user base. In the 1980's the technologies made it easier to mass market. The 1990's Internet explosion allowed us to mass customize. Today's trends let us mass personalize. Specifically, mass personalization allows users with specific (niche) needs to access products, services, or like-minded people.

The latest trends in technology have been dubbed “Web 2.0” by Tim O'Reilly and Dale Dougherty of MediaLive. We will explore the trends and technologies they see and discuss how these trends and technologies apply to the eLearning marketplace.