Social Networking in the online classroom

One area that I have the most difficulty teaching is my end of the year research project.  I am unable to work with all of the students individually to make sure they are on the right track.  I spend a lot of time correcting mistakes and having the students redo projects because they did not understand/follow the directions.  I have message boards and lessons that explain each step of the project but some students find these boring and most do not take full advantage.  I think if the students were able to work together in small groups in a skype room with me they would greatly benefit.  I currently have “open office hours” in which the students can come to my online classroom at schedule times to ask questions and I am also available all day for phone calls. The students usually work one on one with me in these situations and they sometimes feel intimidated.  I think that working in a skype room with peers would take away some of the stress.  I could schedule specific times to work with small groups of students.  It would be an informal meeting in which the students could discuss with each other in real time how their projects are coming along, how they stay organized, challenges they are having, etc. 

 The project is for my 10^th grade US history class.  They have to pick a topic that we studied during the year and explain the historical significance of the event/person and why it is important to learn about the topic today.  The students can either put their research into essay format, powerpoint/glog, digital story, or any other approved format.  Each format is worth the same amount of points but has a different rubric. 

The group collaboration will receive a participation grade.  My overall goal is that the students work together to brainstorm ideas for their project.  I will be there to facilitate the conversation and to answer any questions they have.  My hope is that they will have a discussion on their own and rely very little on me.  I want them to articulate their ideas with other and help each other strengthen their projects. This will also give me a better idea of who needs more help and I can contact them privately after the group discussion.  I think this will prevent a lot of confusion about the project and the students will be able to manage their time in a more meaningful way.