To be seen as policing or nagging can be alienating to students. Far from fostering a SoB, it can annoy them. So we should handle with care how we approach non-participating students. Students may have many reasons for not engaging with discussion. They may be genuinely not the least bit interested, seeing no benefit to them. Or they may mean to, but never quite find the time. Or they may need time to think about a response, and when they’ve done so, feel they’ve missed the boat. They may be timid, or may have technical problems. Or they may see no advantage in terms of learning or grade in so doing. Whatever the reason, being positive and supportive is important to enhance interaction, and hence SoB.

Example: Gerry used learning analytics to identify which students hadn’t engaged in any discussion board by week 3 of his module. He asked admin to email them a supportive email giving them a contact if they were having technical problems. Some then contributed without further prompting.