Creating Collaborative Communities - Week 5

I hereby resolve to:

• Develop icebreaker activities to build community based on the course content
• Be in frequent contact with students throughout the first week
• Be sure to check in with students who seem to be losing interest/working below their ability in the weeks after the initial course start
• Make sure I am present enough, but not too overbearing as the weeks progress in the course

The 70/30 rule will impact my online facilitation by making me more aware of how I lay the foundation for successful interactions with my students. I have always used the same Icebreaker in my courses, “As an introductory discussion, take this opportunity to tell us about yourself. Who are you? What grade are you in? What do you like to do? What are your hobbies? What kind of books do you like to read? What types of things would you like to learn more about? Why did you sign up for this course?” I did this more as a way to make sure participants knew how to post to the discussion boards than as a community building activity. It did have the side effect of allowing me to get to know my students, but that wasn’t really the intended purpose. I have also always used a welcome message to my students as a way to allow them to get themselves set up early, so they don’t feel quite as much pressure in the beginning of the course. Outside of the very easy “getting to know the LMS and each other” activities, the only other thing students will be responsible for in the first week is picking up their reading materials from the library. Based on what Lehmann and Chamberlin share, the first week is critical for student retention. One other thing I try to do in the first week is to respond to all email messages as soon as humanly possible. That means logging in more frequently than I normally would, and making sure I address students questions and concerns. One thing that will help me do this is to start building a database of responses to questions that frequently come up (see new addition of “Online Teaching Playbook” page, a work in progress).

I do wish the scenarios in this module were different than those presented in the text, as I felt like I was “copying” the responses that Lehmann and Chamberlin presented.