Okay, it is first week and you have successfully looked over your cloned classes and everything looks great! The dates are correct. The forums all have been cloned only one time. You have sent your welcoming email before the class start date to students and you have posted your Welcome Video to the 1st week forum. Now the students have followed your example and have started posting their own introductions in the Introduction Forum. What do you do next? How do you wow your students? How do you retain the most students for your class?
1. Always maintain a constant classroom presence.You do this by answering every student thread and welcome every student in the class.
2. Mention something personal about yourself.
3. Find some commonalities with the student such as shared interests like hobbies, life experiences, or how you overcame difficulties in your life (not too personal).
4. Ask fun conversation ice breakers such as: If you were on an island, and you had only one thing to bring to that island, what would you bring? Or If you were elected President of the United States, what reforms would you institute in your first 100 days?
5. Address each student by name. When you address students by name, this personalizes the forums and each student feels special. After all, when you are in a face to face classroom, you would make an effort to learn student names right? Well, it is the same thing in an online classroom.
6. Remember not to leave any student out. If you accidentally forget to acknowledge a student, email him/her privately with an apology. The student will forgive you after all, we are all human!
Other ice breaker questions include:
1. Who is your hero?
2. What turning point events are there in your life?
3. What 'aha' moment have you all had?
4. If a genie could grant you three wishes, what would they be?
5. What is unique about how you think?
6. What is your highest priority goal for the course and why?
7. What are you most nervous about taking this class?
8. What is your best kept secret for being a successful online learner?
9. What hobbies do you have in common with at least one other member of the class?
"Getting acquainted posting helps to build social presence and launch the feeling of community in the introduction forum. It also helps to establish connections and trust between faculty and students through knowing where students are coming from. Not only do the students want to know you, but they also want to know something about their fellow students. Therefore, a Getting Acquainted discussion post is an opportunity to tell a story about yourself and encourage students to share something personal about themselves. This can be done simply by asking students to complete a statement such as my favorite movie , favorite boo,k or learning place. You can also ask students to share a post of their favorite pictures. Interestingly, students often choose pictures of themselves on vacation with pets, with family, or even a hobby ,such as refurbishing an antique car. Sharing at this level elicits a wealth of information so that everyone connects with each other on several levels. Many faculty forget forget how important it is for them to post their own rich and substantive Getting Acquainted post things about themselves. You may wish to share with your learners many places you've traveled or lived. (Conrad, 137)
- Share a a formal professional picture.
- Share a fun picture with your family on vacation
- Short bio with links to published papers
- Link to your favorite professional publication
- Sharing your personal current research question that shows your curiosity about learning.
- Share other favorite personal photos like your family pets, music, cars , and/or vacation spots
- Post an audio of yourself so students can hear your voice. (Conrad, page 137)
Have fun introducing yourself to your students during the first week!
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