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Creating and implementing successful online learning environments: a practitioner perspective. This paper is about how we attempted to overcome barriers to the use of Computer Mediated Conferencing (CMC) for effective learning in Open University Business School (OUBS) courses and the implications for successful implementation. We begin with a brief overview of potential barriers and the ways in which we attempted to overcome them. We then expand on this in the remainder of the paper. This practitioner perspective is based on an action research study in the OUBS, involving 300 part time management tutors using CMC based on FirstClassTM software as part of their multi-media distance learning courses (Salmon & Giles 1999). The results reported in this paper are intended to be a guide to help practitioners to make the most of the pedagogic opportunities provided by CMC.