Conversation Analysis for Educationaltechnologists: Theoretical Andmethodological Issues for Researchingthe Structures, Processes, and Meaningof On-line Talk

Research in education technology encompasses a wide range of quantitative and qualitative methods (Savenye & Robinson 1996). Methods and approaches formerly applied in the broader realm of qualitative educational research have become important to researchers in educational technology. Conversation analysis (CA) is one such qualitative approach that has recently become highly relevant for examining educational phenonmena related to discourse supported by the plethora of tools and resources for computer-mediated communication. In this chapter, which focuses on CA situated within the tradition of discourse analysis, I make several assumptions. I assume that the reader is acquainted with qualitative inquiry and such terms as grounded theory, intersubjectivity, participant and nonparticipant observation, sampling, and recursion in the analytic phases of inquiry are familiar. Concurrent with the remarkable growth of networked, interactive communication technologies during the last decade, educational technologists are beginning to see the need to scrutinize people’s on-line conversations as evidence of educational processes and outcomes. As ever-increasing numbers of people use on-line chats, listservs, threaded discussions, and video and audio conferencing for educational purposes, questions about these on-line conversations arise: