Hi Bill and Cristy,
I have noticed that if a student feels as though another participant has already stated their thoughts or ideas, then it is not worth their time to make a post in a discussion forum. And it also is true if no one has posted, students do not want to be the first to put their ideas out there. There seems to be a fear factor of 'what other people might think'. As much as we may think this is not true, it plays a HUGE factor in student participation. I know when I took online classes and the first person posted, if I realized my answer was different then I waited for others to post thinking that I was way off base.
Fear plays a large part in participation whether it be online or F2F.
Mary
