Interaction is at the core of effective distance learning, and is recognized as one of the components needing the most research. There is also a need for
research that links theory to distance learning scenarios that include advanced computer technology. In particular, instructional delivery in distance education has only recently begun to include constructivist
principles. Also recent is the emergence of distance learning scenarios that include interactive communication through sophisticated computer conferencing systems within Web-based environments. The dialogue-based
conferencing platform merged with the connectivity to the resources on the WWW/Internet creates an environment that has the potential to be aligned with constructivist principles. These discourse communities might be
able to support individual and group learning that is purposive and personally relevant. Research has suggested that a CMC based environment may facilitate the personal construction of knowledge (Jonassen
et al., 1995) within a community of learners and thinkers (Brown & Campione, 1990). That is, students would have the ability to be in control of their own learning, articulate their ideas and reflect upon them, and
negotiate within themselves and with others in meaning-making (Jonassen et al., 1995). Students would have access to vast resources and information utilities (Dede, 1998), linked online through the Web, which would
enable them to seek and acquire knowledge that is meaningful to them (Khan, 1997).
There is a need for utilizing distance education technologies to support constructivist learning (Jonassen et al.
1995). Web-based conferencing is a very recent example of a distance education technology that has the potential to support a constructivist approach to knowledge construction and learning. This technology may
effectively merge the following into the learning environment:
dialogue;
group-based instructional strategies;
high levels of student-student interaction;
social and collegial factors (based in online community of learners); and,
connection to resources through links (hypermedia context of Web)
(Bannan-Ritland, Bragg, & Collins, 1999).
The needs, as outlined in the literature, to understand the role of interaction, theory, and the ways that CMC facilitates the personal construction of
knowledge, have led to the formulations of this study. The main purpose of this study was to describe the nature of online interaction within this particular environment, and to frame that in terms of a specific
constructivist model of learning.
