The Chronicle of Higher Education posted a story today about three professors who created fake student accounts for their online classes and used those "students" in online discussions. Two of the professors said the students had no idea that they had created fake online students, while the third professor told his students at the beginning of the class that he'd be posting in the discussions as a fake student.

The professors said that getting group discussions going is extremely difficult for online classes, and that many students tend to drop out of online classes mid-way through. But is this what higher education really wants? Do we want professors who pose as students mingling online with students? Some of the profs even admitted that they were close to the edge of faculty ethics and students in the story were not happy with the professors' actions.

What do you think? Is this just a clever way to get an online class discussion going or did these professors step over the line on this one?