1. Student Generated Discussions: Students can generate discussion questions, or review questions, via a personal journal discussion, where only the student and you, the instructor, can see each students' post. Then, select a few of these questions, the best questions, and post them to a class discussion area the following week.

2. Student Led Discussions: Periodically assign a student or group of students to be experts on a topic. Have them research the topic and post a question or questions in that week's discussion. They will have to explain, defend, and moderate their questions. Toward the end of the class, they can summarize and combine talking-points from their classmates.

3. Student Discussion Response Teams: Establish teams, and allow students to work together to post a final revised response to a discussion question. This results in fewer messages for you to read and grade. Consider the size and number of teams. Try to have no more than about seven students on a team. Create clear guidelines for collaborating online and working in teams. You may wish to elect a team leader to compile and post a final response.

4. Two-Week Team Discussions: Consider carrying on a particular discussion for two weeks. This is best left to mid- or late semester. The first week, you can place students into groups and have them debate a topic. During the second week, each group can present the substance or summary of their first week's discussion as a single post, to the other groups. This can save you grading time, so it might be a good concept to bring out when you know you will be focused on other grading responsibilities in your class.

5. Offering Discussion Options: If you have a large class, you can offer discussion options. For example, the broader subject that week might be edible plants, and there can be two to three discussion topics. Each student can choose to discuss plants found in one of several different climates. Or, if the class is learning about international business trends, you can have several topics in the forum, each focused on a different country or economic sector.