Re-contextualization of teaching and learning in videoconference-based environments: an empirical study

The paper reports an empirical study of the use of videoconferences in decentralized university education. The study focuses on breakdowns that occur during the transition of educational practices from regular classrooms to videoconference-based environments. It was found that the breakdowns were mainly caused by physical and organizational distribution of decentralized education. The paper concludes that implementation of an educational activity in a new type of learning environment requires both downwards contextualization, an adaptation to the limitations and affordances of the environment, and upwards contextualization, locating the activity in a larger-scale context. Prospects for applying existing theoretical approaches to analysis of coordination breakdowns and design of learning environments are discussed.