I teach a college class on the basic use of Mathematica. I wonder what folks would think if I steered them towards this site? One possibility is that I just mention the site (which I've actually done in passing). Another, would be that I require them to visit or even post a question.
The class is not required for any major so, generally, the students enrolled are genuinely motivated to learn Mathematica. Nonetheless, it is a one credit hour class with only Calculus I and no programming pre-requisite. Thus, my concern would be that the level of their questions might not be too high. The course has run once per year for the last 5 or 6 years and typically has 15 to 20 students. Would people be irritated if I unleashed such a deluge on the site? Or would the site view this as a good thing?
The advantage for the students is clear, as a primary objective of the course is to get the students to the point where they can progress on their own. This forum is clearly a tool that could help them do that.
Edit in response to some concerns
I suppose another question might be - is there a way to strongly encourage students to participate and/or explore without quite posing a question to the forum? Perhaps I could create an assignment where the students write up or explain something they learned while exploring the site.
Expanding on belisarius' comment, perhaps I could require that the students find say 4 or 6 questions that they must write about or otherwise describe to the class. The twist is that a question of their own could count for two. That way, students really have nothing to ask need not do so.
And certainly, if it went bad it's not something I'd continue.