A central feature of online classro

A central feature of online classrooms is access to a variety of telecommunications tools. (See Article Three in this volume for more on this.)These tools provide opportunities for professor-student and student-studentinteractions to take many different forms that can promote active construction of knowledge through discussion. For example, e-mail can be used to develop individual question-response-clarification cycles between professor and students or among students. Deep questioning, with regular and timely responses, followed by clarifications of incomplete or erroneous knowledge,can promote high-quality and thoughtful e-mail interactions. E-mail discussions may actually produce more insightful discussion of ideas than face-to-face interactions because participants have the opportunity to frame,reflect on, and revise questions and responses before sending them (Harrington & Hathaway, 1994).