Emergent Characteristics of Complex Learning Communities

Two significant types of Learning Community (LC) which have evolved to facilitate timely knowledge generation are corporate Communities of Practice (CoPs) (Wenger et al 2002) and Virtual Learning Communities (VLCs) (Rheingold 1993). These LCs have proven notoriously difficult to create and maintain due to their intrinsic complex nature; the multiple interactions of people, motivational drivers, technology and environment(s) lead to ‘organic’ development and ‘emergence’ of new properties, which are not possessed by constituent individuals in isolation. Success appears best achieved when CoPs are coordinated and narrowly focussed on a particular problem domain or VLCs have sharply focussed interest domains (Brown & Salafsky 2004).