Interaction in online courses can occur at different levels (students interacting with online course material) and in different ways (students communicating with the instructor or with each other). In either case, more research needs to address this critical area of online interaction and how we can better structure interactive learning experiences to make for more productive learning. This paper addresses this concern by presenting the results of a case study that examined the collaborative experiences of students in an online business writing classroom. The purpose here was to examine the same groups of students working on collaborative writing assignments in both a synchronous (real-time) and asynchronous (non-real-time) discussion forum. This study focused on examining the amount, pattern, and focus of interactions, as well as assessing students’ attitudes toward communicating in the two different environments.