In our introductory chapter, we identified some general trends in Networked Learning research as they have emerged and faded over the years since the first Networked Learning conference in 1998. This acknowledges the 10 th biennial conference in 2016 and the development of research within the field to which the conference series bears witness. It serves also to provide a backdrop for the nine chapters providing the body of this book, based as they are on selected papers from the 10th biennial conference, and speaking as they do to this developing field. In this final chapter, we look back on the issues taken up in the nine chapters and reflect on how they combine to characterize the field of Networked Learning today -with a view to the identified trends of the past and a look to emerging issues for the future. We start with a short recapitulation of the focus of the book's parts and the individual chapters, thereby also providing the reader with an overview of the content of the book. This leads us in the second section of this chapter where we identify broader themes which point out significant perspectives and challenges for future research and practice within Networked Learning.
Visual media are now a common feature of distance education and virtual reality environments are increasingly used. This has boosted research into questions surrounding visual media and technologies for educators' professional development and teaching practice. This research explores educators' views on identity and teaching presence in visual media in distance education. We interviewed 18 experienced educators and categorised their views on identity and visual media. The findings suggest that digital identity can be seen through the lens of networks with others, and that transmedia identity management, i.e. the ability to create and manage multiple identities across different technology platforms, is a key competence for online educators as a means of building trust within online learning communities. As a result, we modified tele-proximity theory (Themelis, 2013(Themelis, , 2014Themeli & Bougia 2016) by refining the concept of tele-teacher presence is refined to include transmedia identity management.The implications for practice are that the professional development of online educators should include knowledge and competence in tele-teacher presence and especially transmedia identity management.
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