In this presentation, Tannis Morgan shares her doctoral research that looks at cases of teaching presence in international online distance courses. Cultural historical activity theory (Engestrom, 1999, 2001) is adopted as a framework for understanding how instructors negotiate the mediating components of the activity system--the students, technology, course design, co-instructors, and institutional contexts—and how these ultimately influence teaching presence. In particular, the role of instructor identity and positioning, language, and conceptualization of online interaction spaces will be discussed as important factors shaping teaching presence.