Creating new learning communities: towards effective e‐learning production Available to Purchase

This paper examines how small firms that produce “e‐learning” materials collaborate and communicate with their clients, external agencies and end users. Our premise is this: given increased demands for more sophisticated and “learning‐led” products, it is becoming increasingly crucial for e‐learning firms to source and exploit content, education, knowledge and expertise that is extrinsic to the traditional boundaries of the “firm”. These shifts raise a set of problems related to how firms can effectively interact and collaborate with others in order to create, distribute and evolve effective e‐learning tools and products. Based on our own case study research and building on the existing literature on “communities of practice”, we argue that the formation of new “learning communities” is a strategy now being undertaken by leading firms in order to meet demands for “learning‐led” products.