ABSTRACT
If we are to consider the links between nodes in a network as transactions (the argument of the previous chapter), then it is clear that we will have to re-examine some of the ideas from network theories about the ‘flow’ down tubes or ‘pipes’. This chapter will therefore try to reconcile some of the potentially conflicting ideas encountered so far in the book – for example, that learning is central to creation and sharing of knowledge, that relationships are the basis of networks, and that at times it is thought that an object or substance is ‘flowing along pipes’ within these networks. To do this we will consider, first, the nature of the ‘substance’ that is being created and shared within a network, namely ‘practice’. We will examine the assessment for learning (AfL) practice that was the subject of the LHTL project, including how it was formulated as part of the project. Second, we will consider the issues arising from the need for this practice to ‘move’, and in particular how this relates to views of knowledge that stem from our view of learning put forward in Chapter 3. At this stage we will then be in a position to examine the nature of ‘creation and sharing of knowledge’, including their relationship, and how we can think about and study them.
