A cultural approach to networked-based mobile education

ARTICLE IN PRESS International Journal of Educational Research 46 (2007) 204–214 www.elsevier.com/locate/ijedures A cultural approach to networked-based mobile education Raine Koskimaaa,, Miika Lehtonenb, Ulla Heinonenc, Heli Ruokamob, Varpu Tissarid, Sanna Vahtivuori-Hänninend, Seppo Tellad a Department of Art and Culture Studies, P.O. Box 35 (JT), FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland b University of Lapland, Finland c University of Turku, Finland d University of Helsinki, Finland Received 18 April 2006; received in revised form 24 July 2007; accepted 18 September 2007 Abstract This paper discusses cultural conditions for networked-based mobile education. In our paper, we demonstrate how an Integrated Meta-Model that we have been developing in our MOMENTS project, i.e. Models and Methods for Future Knowledge Construction: Interdisciplinary Implementations with Mobile Technologies, can be used as a heuristic tool for research and pedagogical practice with technology, drawing attention to such cultural and pedagogical aspects and relations which are easily left unnoticed. This Integrated Meta-Model consists of four levels: (i) cultural discourses and practices; (ii) pedagogical models and principles; (iii) action, and (iv) individual acts and activities. These four conceptual levels are complemented with three main components of the model, namely culture, interaction, and adaptability. To concretize our approach, we are presenting findings from four case studies conducted as a part of our MOMENTS project. Finally, we hope to undermine the technological deterministic thinking by reminding that there is a more fundamental cultural change taking place behind the rapid technological development and its pedagogical application. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Education and cultural change Culture, as British cultural critic Raymond Williams (1983) has famously noted, is ‘‘one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language’’ (p. 87). We use the term ‘‘culture’’, also here relying on Williams, as referring to a ‘‘particular way of life, which expresses certain meanings and values not only in art and learning but also in institutions and ordinary behaviour. The analysis of culture, from such a definition, is the clarification of the meanings and values implicit and explicit in a particular way of life’’ (Williams, 1971, p. 57). The cultural study of particular ‘‘meanings and values, seeks not so much to compare these, as a way of establishing a scale, but by studying their modes of change to discover certain general ‘laws’ or ‘trends’, by which social and cultural development as a whole can be better understood’’ (ibid., p. 58). There are other approaches to study and define culture as well, such as the lately quite popular psychological take, but we are mainly writing here in the cultural studies framework. Corresponding author. Tel.: +358 14 2601471. E-mail address: koskimaa@campus.jyu.fi (R. Koskimaa). 0883-0355/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2007.09.013 ARTICLE IN PRESS R. Koskimaa et al. / Int. J. Educ. Res. 46 (2007) 204–214 205 Fig. 1. The conceptual levels of observation, the main components and the dimensions of the MOMENTS integrated meta-model. (Ruokamo & Tella, 2005a–c; Tella & Ruokamo, 2005, 2006; cf. Lehtonen et al., 2003; Tella et al., 2004). In the MOMENTS1 Project we have developed an integrated meta-model, which is a new integrated model, that could be utilized when designing future curricula and implementing formal and informal training or teaching–studying–learning (TSL) processes. One of the starting points of the MOMENTS integrated metamodel was the didactic TSL process (see e.g. Kansanen et al., 2000 Kansanen, Tirri, Meri, Krokfors, Husu, & Jyrhämä, 2000; Uljens, 1997; Vahtivuori & Lehtonen, 2003; Vahtivuori et al., 2003), later geared toward teachability, studiability, and learnability, which form the major dimensions of the MOMENTS integrated meta-model. Three main components consist of: (1) culture, (2) interaction, and (3) adaptability, which interact with four conceptual levels of observation. In terms of the conceptual apparatus of the research, the levels distinguished are the following: (i) the level of cultural discourses and practices; (ii) the level of pedagogical models and principles; (iii) the level of concrete action; and (iv) the level of individual acts (Lehtonen et al., 2003; Ruokamo & Tella, 2005a–c; Tella & Ruokamo, 2005, 2006; cf. Tella et al., 2004; Fig. 1). Bringing the cultural practices in to the MOMENTS integrated meta-model has two functions: first, it directs attention to the very fact that also the TSL activities are culturally conditioned (which is not always self-evident); second, it opens the discussion toward the cultural changes brought along by the networked and mobile technologies, bearing implications also for TSL activities. Here it is useful to elaborate on the two instances of ‘‘culture’’ within our meta-model. The culture on the level ‘‘Cultural Discourses and Practices’’ refers to larger cultural formations, that is, national, international, and even transnational cultural 1 The MOMENTS (Models and Methods for Future Knowledge Construction: Interdisciplinary Implementations with Mobile Technologies) consortium represented several fields of science and education, providing a wide knowledge base for the research task of the consortium. The research foci of the partners included the use of mobile technologies (Tampere University of Technology, Pori), learning in the light of the historico-cultural perspective and digital culture (University of Turku), pedagogical applications, models of network-based education, and designing and assessing technologically mediated environments (Universities of Helsinki and Lapland). See http://legenda.pori.tut.fi/ moments/. The project has been funded by the Finnish national research programme Life as learning of the Academy of Finland. ARTICLE IN PRESS 206 R. Koskimaa et al. / Int. J. Educ. Res. 46 (2007) 204–214 phenomena (‘global village’), within which the pedagogical models are always embedded.2 The culture as a component, on the other hand, refers to the culture as something internalized by individual actors within the TSL processes. It is more fragmented and dynamic, open to rapid changes, and personal by nature. Central concepts here are identity, community, and networking. Cultural discourses and practices can be seen as the public discourses surrounding education in general, and the use of technology for educational purposes particularly. The discourses, then, represent both the official policies of education, and the possible challenging opinions as expressed, for example, by teachers voicing their differing opinions regarding to those policies (or their execution) in public media and professional forums. The discourses and policies may be regional, national, or international by nature. Cultural practices are about internalized conventions, regarding TSL processes. From the cultural studies perspective it is important to look at how various things are articulated with each other in a certain context, and which kind of meanings this articulation produces—for example, how information technologies are articulated with social phenomena in the information (or better, knowledge) society rhetoric. With regards to the network-based education (NBE) and network-based mobile education (NBME), it is important to find out how educational use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) are articulated within the society. On the EU level—as witnessed in various documents like the eEurope strategies—the picture is clear: in order to make EU the most competitive digital economy, the workers need new skills, and all the citizens need better digital literacy or media proficiency in order to ensure demand for the new digital products and services (European Commission, 2003, 2004). This is the rationale for both the emphasized role of the life-long and life-wide learning and promoting of online education. The only way, so far, the EU has come to measure this development is the rate of online computers per pupils in schools, targets being that all schools have an online access and that there is one online computer for each 15 pupils (European Commission, 2003, p. 19). In Finland the Education and Research Programme for the Knowledge Society strategy names as its main target to strengthen ‘‘general knowledge society skills and the role of education and research in the knowledge society’’ (MinEdu, 2004). The main goals are the same ones as in the EU documents (competitiveness, social inclusion, quality of life), but in this paper there is also pedagogical perspective included, and ‘‘pedagogically motivated contents’’ are sought after. The knowledge society is composed of two layers, the technical infrastructure and the citizen communities and networks. The implementation of new technology requires from the citizens ‘‘willingness to reshape the culture in which they tend to behave in a proactive way’’ (p. 4). There is a long list of motivating factors for these changes, like the creation of human-friendly, safe, and reliable organizational environments, but it finally comes down to: ‘‘The aim is to lower the threshold between public and private sector cooperation’’ (MinEdu, 2004). This is a clear indication of the hybridization processes at work in our current (network) culture. There are some vague notions of cultural change taking place, especially the rise of the network society (e.g. Castells, 1996), but it is quite striking how economically and technologically driven these documents are. Largely speaking, we are witnessing a socio-cultural change, where education increasingly is remodeled as a life-long and life-wide knowledge construction or creation activity (i.e. the knowledge society development) in a global setting. The new technologies and technologically mediated ways of communication are an integral part of this activity, and they imply potential changes in the cultural context of education. It is especially important to pay attention to the often almost invisible cultural implications of the educational technology, as the technology itself is in no way ‘‘innocent’’ or pure—rather, there are certain conventions and assumptions built in and around the use of the new technology, and these conventions and assumptions are, to some extent, ‘‘smuggled’’ into the pedagogical framework alongside with the technologies. Strongly interactive video games and game-based simulations, for example, have created a vivid game culture with its own values and fashions. When developing educational games, the game culture sensibilities are unavoidably brought along. Thus we 2 On further development the cultural level could be divided to separate layers. The layering could be based on Hofstede’s conceptualizations (Hofstede, 1989). The level of cultural discourses and practices would then be divided to three layers: (1) The institutional/organization cultural layer (IC/OC); (2) The ethnic culture layer (EC) and national culture layer (NC), and (3) the inter- or transcultural online culture (IC/TC). The third layer (IC/TC) in global level is seen to be mixing different national, ethnic, and organizational cultures between teachers, students, and learners with different national and ethnic backgrounds on common online interactions. (Lehtonen, Page, & Thorsteinsson, 2006; Lehtonen, Page, Thorsteinsson, & Miloseva, 2007). ARTICLE IN PRESS R. Koskimaa et al. / Int. J. Educ. Res. 46 (2007) 204–214 207 should pay attention to such issues as if competition and rich interactive environments are the optimal approaches to certain educational objectives, or even if there are such issues in our culture which are inappropriate as game topics (Frasca, 2001; Prensky, 2001). 2. The cultural construction of virtual learning environments For French cultural theory, individuals live in a setting defined by various institutions, which Pierre Bourdieu calls ‘‘fields’’—families, work, peer groups, educational institutions, political parties, and so on (Bourdieu, 1990). Each field has a certain material form, and to most of them, a characteristic space and time is attached. These fields are suffused by power relations and they tend to be structured hierarchically (During, 1993, pp. 10–11). In the French theory, social fields are seen as partially autonomous. This partial autonomy is underlined by institutional borders—for example, school buildings as the physical spaces for the educational field. The meanings of particular signifiers or texts in a particular situation are, in part, ordered by material interests and power relations (During, 1993, p. 7). Space is fundamental in any form of communal life and space is fundamental in any exercise of power: Most modern institutes of education, despite the apparent neutrality of the materials from which they are constructed [y] carry within themselves implicit ideological assumptions which are literally structured into the architecture itself. [y] Thus, a whole range of decisions about what is and what is not possible within education have been made, however unconsciously, before the content of individual courses is even decided. (Hebdige, 1993, p. 363). These decisions help to set the limits not only on what is taught but on how it is taught. Here the buildings literally reproduce in concrete terms prevailing (ideological) notions about what education is and it is through this process that the educational structure, which can, of course, be altered, is placed beyond question and appears to us as a ‘given’ (i.e. as immutable). In this case the frames of our thinking have been translated into actual bricks and mortar. (Hebdige, 1993, pp. 363–364). In addition to the buildings themselves, also decorations and furniture bear ideological implications—during the last years there has been heated discussion around the use of religious symbols in school premises. This brings us to an important aspect of NBE and NBME. Virtual technologies inevitably affect the physical space of TSL. The physical and the virtual space are overlapping, but depending on the various solutions their relative status varies. Teaching and studying may happen mainly in the physical space, and computers are used only occasionally for information retrieval and other such activities. In the other end of the spectrum, the teaching takes place wholly in the virtual space, but even in this case, the physical surroundings around the student cannot be totally bracketed. Both the physical and virtual spaces offer certain structures to represent the presence in that particular type of environment, as well as allow tools, objects, and places for cooperation and communication (Lehtonen, Page, & Thorsteinsson, 2005). In most cases, the solution is somewhere in between these extremes. The overlapping of the two spaces may induce problems, especially if they carry strongly different social structures and ideological assumptions (e.g. authoritarian/anti-authoritarian). We can see as a basic solution the aim to reproduce the characteristics of the physical space in the virtual space—already the notion of a ‘‘virtual class-room’’ refers to this aim (see e.g. Hiltz, 1986; Tiffin & Rajasingham, 1995). Alternatively, the aim may be to construct such structures within the virtual space, which are not possible, or practical, in the physical space (e.g. anonymity or tele-presence; Lehtonen, Page et al., 2005; Lehtonen, Thorsteinsson, Page, & Ruokamo, 2005). The spatial dimension strongly affects social relations:’’yit is somewhat arbitrary to try to dissociate [y] the practice of social relations, and the spatial distributions in which they find themselves. If they are separated, they become impossible to understand’’ (Foucault, 1993, p. 163). There have been strongly positive, even utopian expectations attached to the Internet in general, and also to the NBE and NBME. These include, especially, the strengthening of equality and democracy. The relation of equality and authority in an educational context is foremost a pedagogical question, but especially regarding the spatial issues, the architects of virtual educational environments are in a unique situation: it is possible to ARTICLE IN PRESS 208 R. Koskimaa et al. / Int. J. Educ. Res. 46 (2007) 204–214 avoid many of the ideological assumptions of the physical spaces in the virtual environments. Especially with multicultural groups this offers a promising starting point, and culturally reflective and sensitive design may, at its best, produce deliberating and empowering NBE and NBME environments and situations. It is important, however, to stress that this does not happen automatically, and even good intentions are not necessarily enough. ‘‘I think that it can never be inherent in the structure of things to guarantee the exercise of freedom [y] I think that it can and does produce positive effects when the liberating intentions of the architect coincide with the real practice of people in the exercise of their freedom [y] But there are no machines of freedom, by definition’’ (Foucault, 1993, pp. 162–163). The virtual spaces also offer the possibility of cultural hybridization. Popular culture, especially, is the venue for hybridization and one of the forms this may take in the educational contexts, is the mixing of popular culture contents with the educational ones. Through the data networks, the classrooms and other educational spaces may open up, and allow the popular contents to be included as part of teaching. Especially computer games as a highly popular culture formation have already found their way in to the classrooms. As Simon During has stated, ‘‘cultural production is conceived of as a process of ‘hybridization’ and ‘negotiation’’’ (During, 1993, p. 7), and this is increasingly true of educational situations, too. Various edutainment solutions, for example, represent the process of hybridization, and virtual spaces, in their turn, offer more options for negotiating temporal and spatial solutions. 3. Negotiation and hybridization in NBE and NBME contexts In this chapter we take a look at various empirical case studies we have been involved in during 2003–2005; most of them have been conducted in the MOMENTS project. Here we are emphasizing just two aspects of these cases, namely ‘‘negotiation’’ and ‘‘hybridisation’’ as parts of NBE and NBME processes. With negotiation we refer to the ways how the ‘‘right’’ or ‘‘proper’’ usages are negotiated when new technological tools are implemented. Also such issues as the identities of the participants and the questions of community in network-based environments are discussed. With hybridization we refer to the ways how the conventions, habits, and expectations related to the technologies in use reshape the practices of the TSL contexts, and to the consequent new formations. 3.1. Network-based and distributed cooperation among teachers and coordinators at the virtual university The main goal of the VirtUni case study (i.e. Pedagogical Models and Social and Cultural Practices at the Virtual University) was to describe, analyze, and understand how the teachers and the course designers (i.e. the coordinators) combine their expertise and knowledge and develop pedagogical and social practices and innovations while planning and implementing a network-based course at the virtual university (Tissari, 2005a). The research target of the VirtUni case study was the conceptions of the teachers and coordinators about learning, construction of knowledge, and about social and pedagogical practices and innovations (Tissari, 2005b). The key research questions were the following: (1) what are the challenges of network-based cooperation and learning like, and (2) what are the teachers and coordinators learning while planning and implementing a national network-based course (Tissari, 2005b; Tissari & Heinonen, 2006). The starting point for the case study was the prior understanding of the researcher that innovations and pedagogical and social practices, as well as working culture of the university personnel, will be developed while cooperating nationally (Tissari, 2005a). The changes in the working culture can be seen in the way in which the co-operating partners are negotiating for their roles, tasks, distribution of work, and for the network-based learning environment suitable for the course. The VirtUni case study highlighted the change from the traditional way of teaching in the universities, based on one individual teacher taking care of planning and implementation of the whole course, to the distributed model of expertise where several experts combine their efforts to produce a network-based course (Tissari & Heinonen, 2006). This alone is a significant change in the educational culture in the higher education context, but what is even more important here is the composition of these expert groups. In addition to the teachers, both pedagogical and technical support personnel play a central role. It is especially the course designers who often take the coordinating role in the NBE initiatives. ARTICLE IN PRESS R. Koskimaa et al. / Int. J. Educ. Res. 46 (2007) 204–214 209 There are several reasons for the importance of coordinating personnel for joint efforts like networkbased courses, one of them being the primary notion that to be successful the NBE in general requires more thorough planning in advance (and in-process coordination) than traditional teaching. This, in its turn, is a consequence of the NBE situation, where old educational and institutional conventions do not automatically hold. Thus, many such things which in traditional setting are given, are open to negotiation in the NBE. The VirtUni case study backed up this thesis, but interestingly enough, also demonstrated how the coordinators of the course quickly developed a sense of community even in a setting where they did not meet in person during the designing and implementing process of the course (Tissari & Heinonen, 2006). The teaching personnel (namely the professors), on the other hand, never experienced the same kind of group identity. The teachers were jointly responsible for the course, but the coordinators were taking care of the daily routines related to the designing and implementing the course. The teachers could give their expertise to the benefit for the students when they produced the course material and designed and evaluated the learning assignments of the students, and also during the video conference at the beginning of the course. But it was the coordinators who were organizing the assignments and giving guidance to the students when they needed it. One of the central tasks in the network-based and distributed designing process of the NBE was the negotiation for the deadlines regarding the production of course materials and regarding the guidance and feedback to the students. The coordinators of the course negotiated also for the roles, tasks, and distribution of work between the cooperating partners. They negotiated also for the most suitable platform to be used as a learning environment. The negotiations were conducted mainly via email messages among the coordinators and at the telephone conference. Then, the suggestions were consulted with and accepted by the professors. All in all, VirtUni case study showed how the increased need for negotiation has lead to the prominence of coordinating personnel in NBE, and that for these personnel the online space easily offers the ‘‘natural’’ working environment. 3.2. Virtual teams in a global company context In this case study the focus was on instant messaging tools for working and training groups, in a globally distributed company context (Heinonen, forthcoming). On the organization level the motivation for computer-mediated communication (CMC) in general (including the personnel training using NBE and NBME) were the gains in efficiency. This means savings of time and money, but also the ability to have the best possible professionals available for any given task at any time. The persons participating in the case studies were all on such positions that they had to manage affairs on a large, even global, area. In that kind of context face to face meetings are necessarily limited, and the new CMC tools were warmly welcome. The participants felt that the online messaging made the space between the virtual team members to disappear. Suitable CMC tools made virtual teams a viable alternative for traditional working methods and helped to lower the stress level and improve the work satisfaction of the individuals.3 Instant messaging was judged more effective tool than phone by the case participants. This was for two reasons: there is less ‘‘noise’’ (both in the concrete sense of occasional weak telephone lines, and in the sense of differences in pronunciation), and more flexibility. For example, the NBE tools could be used for quick inquiries and other problem-solving issues. In virtual training teams the individuals felt strong group identity, and their goals were more determined by the work related study case, than by their personal educational purposes. NBE usually strongly favors self-directivity and this was also true of these cases. Self-directivity is such issue, regarding which there are quite substantial cultural differences. On a broad level it can be argued that Western culture favor self-directivity in educational context more than Asian culture (Hofstede, 1989; Lehtonen, Page, Thorsteinsson, & Miloseva, 2007; Lewis, 2005). All in all, the CMC-based virtual teams allow more possibilities for negotiating the procedures on a personal level, which, on the other hand, requires that the role of each individual in the team is well defined. 3 It is worth noting that the cases were conducted during the SARS epidemic in the Far East, which made face to face meetings impossible in many occasions. This may have had a positive effect in the acceptance of the virtual teams experiments. ARTICLE IN PRESS 210 R. Koskimaa et al. / Int. J. Educ. Res. 46 (2007) 204–214 3.3. Experiential and collaborative NBE in the military training The goal of this case study was to develop experiential and collaborative NBE in the Finnish Defence Forces and obtain experiences from the utilization of the net environment. The central research question was, how are the pedagogical models which support collaborative learning and game-based social simulations implemented within the network environment. In the group investigation tasks (Sharan & Sharan, 1992) and game-based social simulations (Joyce, Calhoun, & Hopkins, 1997), the second year officer students of the Defence College projected themselves into leadership and training situations they encountered as officer candidates. In the net environment each group designed a problem-oriented, collaborative and experiential case study of working life. Group investigation tasks and a game-based social simulation were mainly realized in text-based form, aided by net environment discussion forums, chat tools, and versatile digital source material (VahtivuoriHänninen, Lehtonen, & Torkkeli, 2005; Vahtivuori & Lehtonen, 2003). A pivotal observation was that it is possible, by use of the pedagogical models, to support the designing and implementation of collaborative and experiential NBE between several actors in a quite hierarchical operating culture. According to the students’ web-based questionnaire and teachers’ interviews, the course setting and activities were found deeply collaborative. Specifically, the voluntary grouping linked with the group investigation model (Sharan & Sharan, 1992), which has not been in keeping with the organization’s presiding cultural tradition, appeared to have been very successful in network-based environment (Vahtivuori-Hänninen et al., 2005; Vahtivuori-Hänninen, 2005). The organizing of the course in accordance with the Group Investigation Model (Sharan & Sharan, 1992) and the Learning through Simulation Model (Joyce et al., 1997; Vahtivuori & Lehtonen, 2003) supported students to take over and be more responsible for their own studying and learning process. At the same time, the role and the voice of the teachers, which seemed to be very important in the beginning of the course, gradually decreased during the TSL process in the net. Net environment also seemed to encourage the students to negotiate with each other and with the teachers how different tools should be used in the most appropriate way in the net environment. Furthermore, the net showed to be more equal environment to act and study than face-to-face situation in the traditionally quite teacher-oriented and hierarchical culture of action. The implementation of game-based social simulations required emotional courage and dedication from the officer students. This would appear to be, from the perspective of the use of social simulation, a central influential factor for learning. Also teachers had to be active to support and comment students activities, especially in the beginning of the course. A higher theoretical level was demanded from the teachers to design and pre-plan NBE than is usually needed in the face-to-face situation. The social relationships and deep collaboration between the students exerted an impact on the success of game-playing. The students knew each other, and they had previous experience of playing, simulations, and methods for empathy. This enabled the successful implementation of the game-based social simulation in the net environment. In particular, community and sociality emerged as team play and with the game-based social simulation being shaped in accordance with students’ own preferences. The military training context of the Defence Forces proved to be quite a natural place for an experiment in collaborative learning, new kinds of game-based social simulations, and more student-oriented way and culture of teaching (Vahtivuori-Hänninen et al., 2005). Students also enjoyed game playing and found if easy ‘‘to have their souls’’ in the studying with simulations. According to the data, the game-based simulations played in the net environment enriched TSL process with many typical characteristics of games, such as emotionality and functionality. This hybridization of education and game playing seems to enable designing NBE and to implement collaborative and experiential TSL process and culture of action in the net environment. 3.4. Innovation education in a virtual learning environment In this case study the virtual reality (VR) environment was a shared virtual space meant to be used as a mental tool for thinking and problem solving, for sharing ideas and thoughts on symbolic level, for communication, distributed knowledge, and shared expertise in a multicultural context (Lehtonen, Page et al., 2005; Lehtonen et al., 2007; Lehtonen, Thorsteinsson et al., 2005). ARTICLE IN PRESS R. Koskimaa et al. / Int. J. Educ. Res. 46 (2007) 204–214 211 The questions of the changes in the social structure and power as earlier discussed were seen in the results. The teacher’s role was seen to be different from the classroom-based teaching; he/she was more an assistant than a tutor. The autonomy of the student was increased, leading to improved cooperation. One of the key questions seemed to be the emotional mediation between the participants in different forms and means. It provided very interesting phenomena in the consideration of the benefits and the disadvantages of technologymediated (VR) communications. (Hyvönen, Lehtonen, Ruokamo, & Tella, 2005; Lehtonen, Page et al., 2005; Lehtonen et al., 2007). The VR environment allowed one to regulate the social and psychological distance but still build, mediate, and maintain certain amount of presence and belonging to certain social structure and culture in the virtually represented ways. According to our experiments we may claim that if the emotion modulation, representation of the social structures, and representation of virtual presence is not implemented well enough it has negative effects on the collaboration. Technologies used influence which emotions are evoked during the study experience. (Lehtonen, Page et al., 2005; Lehtonen, Thorsteinsson et al., 2005). The embodiments, like avatars, which were used in this experiment give the sense of emotional presence but at the same time allow people to regulate the social and psychological distance and the ways of interaction (Lehtonen, Page et al., 2005; Lehtonen, Thorsteinsson et al., 2005; Lehtonen et al., 2006). 4. New culture—pedagogical interventions Considering culture as the cultural background of individuals involved and the sub-cultures they are participating (the ‘‘culture’’ main component in the MOMENTS integrated meta-model), there are certain aspects of the cases which seem to combine the levels of cultural practices, pedagogical models, and actions, in a culturally sensitive way. Our case studies highlight the openness of NBE and NBME tools for the crucial negotiations of multicultural TSL communities. The fore-grounded role of negotiating activities has even created the key group of coordinators, as witnessed by the VirtUni case study. We would, however, like to highlight here two more aspects, the ‘‘parallel multimedia communication model’’ and the emotional aspect of game-based social simulations. The ‘‘parallel multimedia communication model’’ will undoubtedly be one of the key aspects of our cultural and intercultural communication and communication culture in the near future where the ways of internal and cultural aspect affect the ways people select those means in the use in different situations and for indications of uses. The parallel multimedia communication model refers to situations where CMC- and VR-based ways of collaboration and multimedia-based ways of co-communication allow the users, students, or employees in global and local virtual teams and organizations to be represented in the virtual surroundings as well as in the physical ones and use the different ways of text- and multimedia-based ways of communication together and parallel to carry out the desired communication activities. One of the key questions thus is, how the different ways of representations and communications may mediate the necessary level of virtual presence to build the social structures and culture, and simultaneously allow the use of proper set of tools for effective interaction. Game-based social simulations underpinned functionality embedded in one’s own experimentation and emotionality. On merging functionality and emotionality, game-based social simulations firmly seemed to empower experiential and collaborative studying and learning. Game-based social simulations on the basis of the data of the case studies can be regarded as an interesting vehicle of experiential and collaborative studying and learning in network-based environments. An educational use of game-based social simulations also enabled to develop student-oriented teaching. Thus, rich experience gained via emotions and feelings could be increased. When designing and implementing a successful TSL process in the net environment, the pivotal aspects of game-based social simulations were goal orientation, pre-planning and acquaintance with the background and the relationship of simulation with the students’ own real-life experiences and study community. Role-play and social simulation encouraged the students toward functional action, risk taking, independent thinking, and creativity. (See Lehtonen, Hyvönen, & Ruokamo, 2005; Ruben, 1999; VahtivuoriHänninen et al., 2005). This kind of heightened emotional and experiential engagement is related to a talk given by the American scholar and author Stuart Moulthrop in the Digital Arts and Culture 2005 Conference, where he outlined a new pedagogical approach for higher education. Even though addressing specifically higher education, ARTICLE IN PRESS 212 R. Koskimaa et al. / Int. J. Educ. Res. 46 (2007) 204–214 Moulthrop’s concept of intervention might prove applicable in other educational contexts, too. To put it shortly and simply, the traditional teaching places text and writing before other media formats (this is exemplified by notions such as ‘‘media literacy’’, colonizing the whole field of media within the regime of textual logic). Our life world, and especially that of the younger generations, is saturated by the media. This is acknowledged, to some extent, in educational institutions, by, for example, bringing various media products in the education—music videos in music classes, for example, or film adaptations in literature classes—but the hierarchy is always clear: the media content is usually analyzed and valued in textual discourse. Moulthrop, however, wants to ponder the possibility of so-called interventions as an alternative approach. Interventions are programmed cultural productions, made by using ‘‘commonly available media and tools’’ and ‘‘it should have provocative, pedagogic, or exemplary value, and be freely or widely distributed in some channel that maximizes this value, such as the Creative Commons or open-source licensing’’ (Moulthrop, 2005, p. 213). In practice, this could mean, for example, machinima (animations done with the aid of a computer game engine) productions which comment or illustrate the topic discussed during the class. No doubt, such strategies are experimented with in schools around the world. What is the point here is that such strategies and practices should be brought in to the mainstream of education. According to Moulthrop, that might be the way to connect practice and theory more fully that it has ever before been possible. This possibility comes through the Internet technology, which is an example of a universal without totality (truly universal coverage with lack of central control, Lévy, 2001; Moulthrop, 2005). From this perspective, the need for NBE and NBME arises from a genuine cultural change (not just from certain contemporary policies or economical needs), which should have effects on the pedagogical level too. The decisions of how to deal with the parallel multimedia communication (multitasking or plain lack of concentration) or strong emotional engagement in educational context are always connected to wider cultural practices, and one should be aware of these connections when dealing with them for pedagogical purposes. The mobile and portable ICT tools that facilitate thinking and problem solving as well as intense interaction and collaboration in the teaching and studying are seen to offer many new possibilities for learning. 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