Other Fun Ideas

Overwhelmingly, the data shows that online students' primary complaint is a sense of isolation and a lack of adequate feedback and interaction. Try these quick ideas for counteracting that.

Personalize your Home page by creating a welcome video.

The growing simplicity of webcam technology makes it easy to develop your "virtual presence."

Keep it short; less than 3 minutes
Relate your course content to students' past experiences or anticipated future experiences.

Create an "icebreaker" activity

This gives students a structured way to build a sense of community.

EXAMPLES -

1. Create a word cloud to describe themselves
2. Research their birth date in history and share the highlights
3. Introduce themselves in a 30-second podcast or video

Begin with a self-rating survey or pre-test

You'll gain valuable understanding of what concepts your students may already understand and where to put your focus.

Use questions that give a mini-preview of your content and whet their appetite for the answers. (It's a sly way of introducing your course objectives via the questions you pose!)

Get creative with your discussion prompts

Discussions can add a vibrancy to your class community. We actually learn better when we like the people we're learning with.

Develop opportunities for connection and application by using discussions that integrate your course content into real-life experiences.

Ask them to collaborate on Wiki pages

Basically, wikis can be used to support any type of collaborative student project. Have your students use wikis as platforms for collaborative problem solving; group laboratory reports; "WebEssays" (essays that combine images, text, and hyperlinks); group writing projects; or the creation of a class "textbook."

Keep in mind the focus is on content, not format; let your students define the structure
Develop a curated set of resource links related to your course content
Read "The Wiki as a Collaborative Tool: Why and How to Use It"

Create a “simple, deep” course

Simple means the learning materials are clearly divided into chunks that are easy to discern and navigate
Deep means frequent and consistent use of features like discussion forums, visually appealing content pages, and well-constructed assignments and quizzes

The CVC-OEI Course Design Resources by CVC-OEI is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License Development of this course was funded by a grant from the California Community Colleges' Chancellor's Office.