The purpose of this research has been to examine the computer mediated communication (CMC) among a cohort of middle school social studies student teachers and their university supervisors.{09}CMC was facilitated by desktop videoconferencing and web-based groupware. Desktop videoconference sessions were held weekly using CU-SeeMe software, while, web-based groupware messages were posted voluntarily with NetForum software. The two modes of CMC provided the student teachers the opportunities for professional collaboration from their field placement. A qualitative design was used to identify patterns of discourse and to describe the participants' uses of technology. As a result of the participants' active participation in an online learning community, opportunities for peer collaboration and reflection were enhanced. Data from online conversations, interviews, and observations suggested that the intervention of CMC in the student teaching experience allowed the participants to engage in self-directed professional dialogue. The findings suggest that the participants translated the use of technology from the personal context to the classroom context. As a result of this, they acquired perceptions of themselves as technology users. Desktop videoconferencing as a mode of CMC provided more immediate and satisfactory feedback for the participants than the web-based groupware.
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