It has been interesting that online group work for L185 seems to have been particularly successful this time - it is working how it should.
It is noticeable that there is a lot of supportive chat going on as well as the task focused discussion. There are many women in the groups and this does tend to confirm that women post more of what Rovai (2001: 41) calls “socio-emotional messages”.
Rovai, A.P. (2001) “Building classroom community at a distance: a case study” Education Technology Research and Development, Vol. 49, No. 4, 2001, pp. 33–48