Jl. of Technology and Teacher Education (2002) 10( 2), 273-296 A Working Typology of Intentions Driving Face-To-Face and Online Interaction in a Graduate Teacher Education Course CHARALAMBOS VRASIDAS Center for the Application of Information Technologies Western Illinois University Macomb IL 61455 USA vrasidas@ucy.ac.cy The study examined the intentions driving face-to-face and online interaction in a graduate online course from the mean- ing perspectives of the teacher and students. Participants in the study were eight students and the teacher of a graduate teacher education course at a southwestern university. The theoretical framework of the study was based on symbolic interactionism and the methodological approach was based on the canons of interpretive research as Erickson (1986) laid them out. Data analysis identified several intentions driving interaction. These included discussing and exchanging ideas, negotiating aspects of the course, providing feedback, gain- ing access and status in a setting, and socializing. The dis- cussion and data excerpts clearly illustrate that underneath the surface of what, appear as ordinary day-to-day interac- tion, there are multiple meanings that are constructed and as- signed when participants engage in joint action. Those mean- ings and intentions are what drive interaction. The use of information technologies in teaching and learning is blur- ring the boundaries between traditional face-to-face and distance education. The use of the Internet in education is growing rapidly. According to the National Center of Education Statistics (2001), by Fall 2000, 98% of public schools in the United States had access to the Internet, in comparison to