Perspectives and issues in networked learning

Computer networks are still a recent phenomena and research into the uses of such networks for communication and group work is less than 30 years old. In the 1970s the Institute of the Future began to explore issues that remain relevant today and they also began to explore methods of research that continue to have their place in networked learning research (Vallee et al., 1974; 1974a; 1975). The continuity of research cannot blind us to the rapid changes and sudden shifts in the field. In particular the emergence and growth of the Web in the 19905 has had a prof ound impact, making networks the center and focus of developments in the way in whichcomputers themselves had provided a focus previously. As this book was being written anotherwave of technological innovation was developing but we cannot yet know the degree to which the promise of this new technology will be realized (Chabot, 1999). Mobile and ubiquitous computing might be the next big thing with fixed networks builton wires and cables being replaced by cellular radio networks that allow for ‘always on’ broadband communication. Networked learning is a term that describes the new focus for attention, the network, but it does so in suitably ambiguous terms, as the focus of networked learning is both learning and the network.

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