From formal training to communities of practice via network-based learning

Continuous education and training has become a specific need in many professional areas. In this light, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can play a key role, offering resources that open up new opportunities for managing and actively participating in the learning process. In recent years several of possible approaches have been conceived, developed and tested; these range from using the network to deliver structured learning material to running online courses based on collaborative learning strategies. Drawing on observations and results from numerous experiences already conducted in this field, this paper proposes a taxonomy of possible methodological approaches to the use of the ICT in continuous education and training for adults. Special attention will be dedicated to examine the specificity of these approaches and the conditions of their applicability. Accordingly, the paper is divided into two sections. The first categorizes the various types of online support for education, highlighting the different levels of interactivity brought about between the actors in the process (learners, tutors, experts, learning materials, etc.). The second section draws on the considerations made about those same levels of interactivity to examine the conditions for applying the various approaches described in the proposed taxonomy. Separate mention is made of the business world, where innovation and constant market evolution are leading to the gradual abandonment of traditional, procedural-type education in favour of endogenous growth through the exchange and capitalising of know-how. Here again, valuable support can be gained from ICT when combined with knowledge management methods and hence with the organisation of communities of practice engaged in mutual-reciprocal learning.