The Online Discussions Doctor is a diagnostic tool for improving lackluster asynchronous, forum-based discussions. It’s intended to help you answer the question, “Why aren’t my online discussions as lively, fruitful, and deep as my class discussions?” This tool can also serve as a guide even if you’re completely new to facilitating online discussion forums. The “remedies” for preventing forum fails are summaries of best practices based on educational research. Browsing through the ailments and their remedies will familiarize you with common pitfalls and strengths of online discussion forums, even if you don’t yet have a particular nagging problem.