Virtual learning and inter-professional education: Developing computer-mediated communication for learning about collaboration

For at least a decade inter-professional education for health and social care professionals has been seen as a valuable means of improving collaboration in practice. Currently, advances in technology are influencing communication between these professional groups and simultaneously changing the delivery of educational programmes. This paper presents a pedagogic rationale for using computer-mediated communication to enhance learning about inter-professional collaboration and reports some key issues arising from the development of such a learning project with a group of postgraduate students from a variety of health and social care agencies.