Chapter 9. Final considerations

Abstract

This book is based on an understanding of identity as being discursively constructed and reconstituted every time we engage in interaction. This implies that just as contexts and practices can limit opportunities for learners to engage in identity work, contexts and practices can also be designed to offer learners enhanced possibilities for social interaction and positioning. This is one of the aims of virtual exchange as conceptualised in this book. So what kind of virtual exchange contexts can and should we design to offer enhanced possibilities for these kinds of interaction? Here I have explored one particular model of virtual exchange, but of course there is no one solution that ‘fits all’. What I seek to do here in this final chapter is not provide guidelines, but consider some of the implications of this study and ask questions that as educators we can reflect on as we design and integrate virtual exchange into our activity. I then close with recent developments as regards virtual exchange on the policy level, and the implications this has for educators working in the field.