Creating a framework for online participation

An online course can easily be more interactive between student and teacher, and between students, than a traditional classroom course.

The online mode lends itself toward students helping students and the shared understanding that GROUP learning goals are as important as individual learning goals. Student-to-student interaction should be encouraged as much as possible. Too much emphasis on individual interaction between the instructor and each student can be a course design flaw. A balance centered around the quality and necessity of teacher-student interaction should be sought.

While a course can be designed to be basically a self-directed study course with a mentor available for questions, the real power of the online medium comes from interaction and discussion. The optimal size of a class varies depending on the design of a given course. A great many students can work through a self-directed class if minimal or no group interaction coordination is required.

For a course designed around group activities, 3-5 students in a class or class sub-group is optimal; allowing plenty of interaction by all students without creating a large number of messages. More than 12 students in an online class can affect the quantity and/or quality of interaction with the instructor. With classes that are larger than this number, it might be worth considering breaking the students down into smaller groups. It's no easy task to maintain a sense of the group moving forward at the same pace when the students have varying abilities. The instructor must set clear standards for group interaction and students must adhere to them.