Interactivity: what doesn’t work?

You can’t simply give students some readings and expect that they will enthusiastically discuss them at length. They normally start either by waiting for everyone else to contribute first, or by giving minimal answers. The reasons are:

• They are new to the group.
• They might be new to the medium.
• The content may be very unfamiliar.
• They are afraid of making a mistake or looking stupid.
• They don’t have an overwhelming reason to contribute.
• They are very easily discouraged because they are studying at a distance.
• They give up very quickly on a website that has nothing new on it.

In other words, they need an urgent problem to solve or an opportunity to exploit, and a tutor who can entice them to contribute.