Complexity, harmony and diversity of learning in collaborative e-learning continuing professional development groups

In this paper I examine the learning dynamics of three collaborative, e-learning continuing professional development groups specifically he degree of complexity, harmony and diversity in them. Two of the groups worked harmoniously, and successfully produced a collective end product. The other group exhibited extreme anxiety and division, and required extra resources from its members in order to sustain itself. Anxiety became a major focus for this group, which had the effect of diverting it from effective collective production. I use these differences as a point of departure in order to consider the place of identity, control, ontological security and guilt in collaborative e-learning groups.