Engaging learners in the online discussion forum can be time consuming but exciting as an instructor. Reading all the posts, keeping track of student responses and who I have responded to (via excel spreadsheet), making sure their content is appropriate, relevant and applicable to course content, performing my own research about the topic discussed- this can all take time. However, probing students by asking additional questions, application questions, stating what I liked most about their response, etc. engages the students and improves confidence and promotes further discussion. This it the "meat" of the course.
