Using personal professional networks for learning in social work: Need for insight into the real-world context

Professionals in social work practice depend on a high level of skills, intellectual ability and a wide knowledge base to find innovative solutions for the complex problems they encounter. They develop their career and build their own expertise through the experiences they gain along the way. As professional learning in social work happens very much in dialogue and discourse with colleagues and peers, they search for the most suitable and most relevant dialogue partner available in an extensive and high-quality personal network. This paper presents a literature review on the learning needs of these professionals and on some theoretical background to the use of technology as a means of supporting this type of learning. It argues for the need for more insight into the strategies used by professionals in building, maintaining and activating connections in personal network for learning purposes. Poster presentation of the paper entitled "Using Personal Networks for Learning in Social Work: Need for Insight into the Real-World Context". The original publication of the paper is available on http://www.springerlink.com