E-learning is seen as offering possible solutions to the barriers of large scale interprofessional education. This paper discusses a study that explored the underlying pedagogical thinking employed by lecturers when planning e-learning materials for interprofessional education. The themes uncovered in the data were: "reflective spaces for creativity"; "from logistics to learner autonomy"; "authentic"; "constructivist approaches"; "inter-active learning to promote collaboration" and "bringing the patient/service user into the classroom". Discussions about e-learning can focus on the technological aspects of design and delivery. However the findings of this study revealed that technology was not a consideration for the lecturers who saw e-learning as a vehicle to promote interactive learning. Their prime focus was revealed as the application of learning theory to the design of materials that would support students' acquisition of collaborative skills and the generation of new interprofessional knowledge.

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This chapter will provide new insights around the underpinning pedagogy of e-learning that supports the development of collaborative skills in health and social care. It will provide an articulation of practitioner epistemology concerning the development of e-learning materials designed to promote collaborative practice. To do this it will draw on a qualitative case study undertaken by the authors which aimed to uncover the working theories employed by academics when creating e-learning materials to support interprofessional education initiatives. The introduction to this chapter will set the scene by discussing how the initial drivers for developing e-learning materials are often logistics and efficient resource management. However, what this study uncovered were the underlying pedagogies lecturers used in developing e-learning materials. The introduction will signal discussions to be developed in the chapter of how these theoretical approaches to planning learning experiences are adapted and transferred from classroom based practice to the virtual environment.

This chapter will provide guidance for educational practice founded on theory and on the experience of involving service users and carers in student education. Whilst this is an accepted philosophy and practice it is not necessarily easy to achieve. There are numerous ways of including service users in education but the era of digital media has added a means of bringing the service user into the learning environment and of overcoming many of the barriers to their effective engagement. The Centre for Interprofessional e-learning (CIPeL) has been engaged in developing e-learning materials which address some of the barriers to interprofessional education and issues related to user involvement in education. This experience is outlined and some examples from practice are given.

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