For online learning to be successful and happy, participants need to be supported through a structured developmental process. The five-stage-model provides a framework or scaffold for a structured and paced programme for working together towards meaningful and purposeful goals. The five-stage-model offers essential support and development to participants at each stage as they build up expertise.
The diagram here was first published in the first edition of my book' E-moderating' (now in its 3rd edition) in the year 2000, and is the one most colleagues are familiar with. The model was developed over several years using a grounded model metholodgy with thousands of learners.