We should want them to be active participants, providing input that will make everybody learn and think. So, if you are one of those teachers who have been tolerating lurking because you think you are doing students a favor, think again. But powerful psychological and social forces converge to make lurking the natural order of things. The popular conferencing software programs also contribute to the problem. In a given conference, the students can differ enormously in academic background, skills, and life experience.
Some students lack the confidence to assert themselves in public.
Some do not like to write. Some may not have studied the assignments. Some are afraid they will embarrass themselves with postings that are not clever, erudite or interesting to others. A common denominator for all students is the passive conditioning they have been exposed to by years of television and traditional classroom teaching. Effort is not automatically required with either television or the traditional lecture mode of teaching.