Contributions of E-Collaborative Knowledge Construction to Professional Learning and Expertise

Abstract

Modern employment and work life demands employees who continuously develop and actualize their competencies. Information and computer technology (ICT) provides rich opportunities to support individuals in their professional learning. This contribution describes professional learning from the perspective of research on expertise, which analyses the development of knowledge structures on the way from novice to high performing expert. First, a general concept of competence and knowledge development is to be discussed and different types of knowledge are to be distinguished. Then this contribution discusses opportunities to support this development with e-learning scenarios on the various levels of knowledge construction. The main argument is that e-learning opportunities are an option to overcome the traditional distinction between formal and informal learning. However, crucial challenges for implementing e-collaborative knowledge construction remain – as the contribution finally will conclude.