Plan it and they will participate? Probably not. Students need to be carefully scaffolded into online discussions for learning purposes.

Gilly Salmon suggests there are five stages that need to be gone through, with their associated lecturer role, to achieve the best results.

You will find more on her model on the linked website:

A structured approach for online learning and discussion development - Gilly Salmon's Five Stage Model

Students can, though, move through them rapidly across a semester and a programme, with modelling and support - the Teacher presence.

Attached is a useful article on the difference between standing by and standing back during this process. View from confounded to common ground.-Misunderstandings between tertiary teachers and students in online discussions.

This article- Recommendations for online teaching (of Law) - gives advice on building social presence and community as well as using online discussions with large classes, upper level classes, seminars and tutorials.

And this sheet has examples of the kinds of posts to model for students or encourage them to contribute.

Setting the tone

Apart from modelling the kind of behaviour you expect in the online environment it may be necessary to establish some ground rules - otherwise known as Netiquette.

A PDF with explanations of the following Ten Laws is now available for you to share in your courses: Law School Netiquette

Ten laws (See the document for explanations)

Rule 1: Remember the Human

Rule 2: Adhere to the same standards of behaviour online that you follow in real life

Rule 3: Know where you are in cyberspace

Rule 4: Respect other people's time and bandwidth

Rule 5: Make yourself look good online

Rule 6: Share expert knowledge

Rule 7: Help keep flame wars under control

Rule 8: Respect other people's privacy

Rule 9: Don't abuse your power

Rule 10: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes

To entice contribution, participation and a worthwhile learning experience it also doesn't hurt to attach an incentive - marks for participation only, or for quality of contribution as well. In other words assessment.