Recently read an article by Jamie Littlefield about online class discussions and the ongoing debate about teachers posing as students to initiate productive discussions. The debate surrounds whether it is unethical to pose as students within the discussion groups.
Here is a snippet from the article, which you can find on About.com:
…when professors try to initiate discussion through setting class standards, the results are often artificial and cheap. Consider this description from the Washington Post:
"Perhaps I can convey what online teaching is like by asking you to imagine a classroom conversation in which students are required to participate twice before the end of the class, using up 20 seconds each time and referring to at least one specific comment made by another student. How coherent and enlightening a discussion is this going to encourage? How sincere are your students' contributions going to be? And given that the discussion is to take place over the course of a week rather than a single class period, will you or the students care what anyone says by Friday?"
How do you think teachers can encourage discussion without setting burdensome requirements or breaking students' trust by posing as a peer?
So, like Jamie, we put the question to our readers. Do you feel it is unethical for an instructor to encourage discussions by posing as a student?
Source: http://distancelearn.about.com/b/2009/06/03/the-problem-with-online-class-discussions.htm