I have a webCT component to one of my courses this term. I recall that last year this happened as well, and we were graded partly on the quality of our contributions to online "discussion". I hated it, because most people were only making comments knowing that they were being graded, and the comments were not really indicative of a desire to have an involved/interesting discussion. Of course, it didn't help that many of us also hated the course material and didn't want to spend time outside of the classroom discussing it. However it was touted as "a way for everyone to participate", even people who were "too shy to speak up during class".

There are a lot of people floating around who think that the internet can help us to overcome problems in "mass education", for instance a lack of teachers and educational resources, and of course costs...I don't think I agree.

Do we have any opinions on "distance education" over the 'net-?