The evolution of virtual exchange and assessment practices

This chapter provides a general synopsis of the evolution of Virtual Exchange (VE) as it has progressively become more immersed in the paradigms of language teaching approaches. Inevitably, this transformation unfolds in pace to advances in communication technology as the interactional tools are key for facilitating connection between distanced partners in the exchanges. Coming full circle, these advances have had an impact on the organization of the exchanges as well as the focus, methods, and tools used for assessing VE. We will first foreground seminal authors’ work and their impact on VE, next we will review the more commonplace terminology and how these terms have evolved. Through this lens we will then consider how, historically, these concepts have impacted and are now manifested in the different typologies of implementations and assessments in more current VE research and practice, including the chapters in this book. We finish by presenting some of the thornier challenges in assessing VE and examples of how these are being addressed.