Communal constructivism

Introduction

e-Learning takes the concept of ‘community of learners’ a consider- able step forward by enabling less formal communities, that is, less formal than the organizational structure of business enterprises or a school or uni- versity would imply, to create a self-sustaining communal learning environ- ment. We call this extension to the range of socio-constructivist variants ‘communal constructivism’ (Holmes et al., 2001), a process in which indi- viduals not only learn socially but contribute their learning to the creation of a communal knowledge base for other learners. Online learning affords them the linked community, the knowledge bases, the knowledge-creation tools and the facility to provide their learning for others.