Crossing the intercultural borders into 3rd space culture(s): implications for teacher education in the twenty-first century

Abstract

This article looks at a year-long network-based exchange between two groups of student-teachers in Spain and the USA, who were involved in various network-based collaborative activities as part of their teaching education. Their online interaction was facilitated through diverse communicative modes such as Skype, Moodle, Voicethread and Second Life (SL). It was found that the participants’ interaction with their distanced partners varied according to the available communication modes as they constructed ‘membership’ identities in the virtual interaction. The analysis hints at the need to reconsider what ‘intercultural’ means within a ‘third space’.