The nature of student participation with WebBoard, an electronic bulletin board system that can be used for synchronous and asynchronous discussions among participants, was studied in an action research project in two settings. In one, 67 and 59 high school students of Japanese participated in a course using WebBoard. The number of times students used WebBoard, the number of postings they made, and the type of postings they wrote were studied under incentive or no incentive conditions. Incentives were such things as a class "food day." In the other setting, WebBoard use was studied with 12 students in an integrated Bachelor's/Master's teacher education program, 14 inservice teachers in a graduate course, and 6 inservice and preservice teachers in a course. For students at all ages, some requirements were necessary in order for them to remain active participants on the WebBoard. Occasional rewards for the high school students boosted the volume of messages and also created a temporary slump after the reward was achieved. After the slump, a higher than normal rebound occurred, and use was higher than normal for several weeks. Graduate students were more motivated to post, but establishing grading criteria for the quality of the posts was effective in keeping up WebBoard use. The advantages and disadvantages of the WebBoard approach are discussed. The most apparent advantage was the opportunity for the incubation of ideas. (Contains 18 references.) (SLD)