Course Welcome
Asmany of uswork to get our summer online courses ready to go, this seems like a pretty relevant topic. After all, first impressions are important!
Rubric standard I.1 reads: There is a statement introducing the student to the course.
This may seem like a common sense statement. Of course, there should be an introduction of some sort providedto students during the first weeks of an online course, right? But what should be included in an introduction? Havingparticipated in about 20 online course peer reviews, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing how many different instructors approach this task. This is what I have observed in some of the best, most easily navigable courses:
- Instructors welcome studentsto their course with a friendly, inviting statement. This should be the first thing a student sees when he/she enters the course.
- In the news area of the homepage,specific instructions are listed for how to get started in the course. Don’t assume that students will know they should click “Content” on the navigation bar to find course information. Then, when the homepage news is updated, be sure not to delete these instructions (never delete important information from a course — archive it or keep it available for students to easily find again, if need be).
- Provide a course “tour”, of sorts. I’ve seen some great course tour “quizzes” using the D2L quiz feature. Instructors encourage students to explore all the features of the course, carefully read the syllabus and course overview (of course!), and then take a quiz that reinforces what they’ve learned. Some instructors require this of their students beforethey may start coursework, although it also works rather well as an optional activity.
Workshop update: There are still about ten available spots for next week’s peer review workshop. See the entry below for details!
Posted: May 15th, 2007 under Peer Review.
Comments: 2
Comments
Comment from basic communication
Time: May 16, 2007, 10:54 am
Introduction really is important. It makes the flow of the workshop smooth as it familiarizes the students with the basic matters. There might be students who are shy to ask basic questions so the introduction stage saves them from doing so.
In this stage also you can start a good friendly atmosphere with the students that you can maintain all throughout the course.
Comment from developing communication skills
Time: June 15, 2007, 2:48 pm
Introduction helps in developing communication skills. Through the introduction, students can have the basic information about each other and the course as well. They will then have the idea on how to approach and treat each other.
Background information is important in communicating. It gives one the idea on how the other communicates and they could also share some jargons.
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