Working Hard in the ‘Office’: An Ethnomethodological Study of On-line Workshops

This paper demonstrates the usefulness of ethnomethodology as a perspective for studying CSCL, with excerpts and findings from a case study of on-line workshops conducted using Office Hours Live. Ethnomethodology, with its focus on the detail of practical action and interaction, provides a particularly useful way of understanding whether and how CSCL technologies can support such interaction. The paper highlights important issues for the design of technology and the organisation of on-line.