Online discussion has become another strategy faculty use to engage students with each other and with course content. This method offers a safer way for students to participate, as they are able to prepare responses ahead of time and deliver them in writing. But online discussion tends to lack spontaneity. The exchanges are linear and do not reflect the give and take of a face-to-face conversation. Some research evidence is emerging (referenced in the article highlighted here) that students aren't all that enamored with online discussion. Only 7.9 percent agreed that “online discussion should be a part of college courses” (p. 85), and they reported that online discussions were not helping them learn.
