why Networked learning?

What if learning did not just reside within an individual? What if other factors (environment, friends/family/colleagues, deadlines) not only contributed to learning, but were the sites of learning? These obscure questions form the basis of the philosophy behind networked learning. Practically speaking, networked learning, learning that takes place amongst colleagues and in workplace settings (not specifically the classroom), is what we encounter every day in our organisations. We use and learn from networks all the time, be they computer-based networks (email, instant messaging, google, wikis) or people networks (team meetings, photocopier conversations, action learning sets). Networked learning does not refer specifically to e-learning, web-based learning or computers in general. Instead, it privileges the role that all types of networks have in our day-to-day learning processes. Thinking practically, networked learning moves beyond the classroom and the trappings of formal education. When business schools are about improving the practice of management, networked learning places business schools’ knowledge of management at the heart of the workplace through these networks.