I teach fully online courses. Learners cannot just attend in an online class. They must participate somehow. Sometimes the responses to discussion questions may be short, or something like "great post!" or "I agree." To get more participation, I ask for substantive thoughts of at least three sentences. I ask what more could be addeed to this response? Dependent on the topic, I may give a personal story. In an ethics class, I may tell of a health care ethics issue that I personally have dealt with. Or, in health care management, I may discuss a real situation that has occurred. This type of discussion followed by a question such as "Your thoughts?" seems to really bring forward lively discussions. Learners will post above their minimum requirement when their interests are piqued or they really have something to say.