At the beginning of the semester, in the first month, the listserv saw alot of action. That seemed to slow around the first week of February, then was a trickle by the end of the month.

From the responses I received, from conversations throughout the semester, and from my own experience, I attribute this to several things:

• the novelty wore off
• students realized they would pass the class even if they didn't post to the listserv every week
• the tone of the listserv was more of a soapbox than a forum for discussion, and not everyone wanted to get on a soapbox
• there were several breaks and vacations during which some people did not have access to their school e-mail
• people became bogged down with other things as the semester progressed

In March and early April, posts to the listserv were fairly scarce, and the posters were frequently the same five or six people. About five other people posted occasionally, usually sometime Tuesday before class.

Activity increased as the semester neared. Much of this was more informational than theory- or discussion-oriented.

Then, when I posted a request for last words about the listserv, there was a flurry of activity by three people involved in an argument, with two or three others weighing in. The main "arguers" all were people who had posted regularly to the listserv.

Other people in the class took interest, and discussed the issue as well as the argument itself in person, but most did not get involved in the listserv discussion.

This took a rather personal turn. I know some of the people involved and am sure they would have had the same argument face-to-face, had they been willing and able to listen to one another.

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