These are not necessarily the students who are most capable of dealing with the material on a complex level. The reason for this is simple. While the less-thoughtful students were talking, the more thoughtful ones were still thinking about the question and formulating interesting and relevant responses. Their responses were ready long after the class discussion had moved on. In contrast, the virtual classroom is asynchronous.
Students log on and read the discussion question.
They go away and, over the course of the next few hours or the next couple of days, they think about the question and formulate a response. When they log back in, they are ready to give a well-considered response. In my six months at ISIM, I have routinely led the level of discussion that I only dreamed of leading as a traditional professor. Education, a little bit at a time As a classroom professor, much of the job involves entertainment. Student attention spans have continued to drop and their threshold of boredom gets lower every year.