Learning+through+Connecting+People

=How does connecting people in organisations promote and support learning?=

The social network literature includes many studies (Rollag, Parise and Cross, Morrison, Cooper-Thomas and Anderson, Droege) [**NOTE: referencing style please and add to references section JM]** that have looked at the importance of social networks in helping newly hired employees learn how to do their jobs. These studies have found that getting new employees up to speed and helping them be more productive and socially comfortable earlier in their careers can be accomplished by connecting them to both informational and social networks. This has been shown to lead to higher retention rates and higher employee satisfaction.

The literature on mentoring shows similar results to those from the SNA literature. When people are attached to one another, they consistently share knowledge between one another. The type of knowledge varies with the type of mentoring relationship, but it includes technical skills, organizational routines, informal systems, normative behavior, and organizational insights.

=What approaches have proved valuable and how are collaborative tools and participatory media creating new opportunities?=

=What does the Communities of Practice literature and experience teach us?=