Using online discussions can help engage all students, across all learning styles giving them a safe place to express their thoughts and opinions on the subject being studied. I would like to try incorporating this with my middle school students as a way to give them a more focused discussion time each week. 

Switching from face-to-face classes to online classes is a huge change for students. They can feel more comfortable and confident when they know they have support for both instruciton and technology.  The instructor can help students feel more confident by keeping course navigation and module set up simple, and practicing good classroom management by being familiar with site features.