Engaging students in an online environment has been on my mind lately.  I wanted to share something that has worked well for me, and hope you will share some ideas back.

I teach a course that is taught f2f and fully online.  I mix the students into the same Blackboard online course.  It has materials to support the fully online course and the f2f students can see the online presentations (not lectures) for review.  It has worked very well.

The very first assignment for the students is to use the discussion forum to introduce themselves to the rest of the class and then to reply to at least one other students introduction.

I give some basic ideas of what they might want to say or tell us.  It is amazing to see what they do reveal in their introductions that you would never ever find out f2f.  Anyway student bonds are created, as they realize they know people in the class, or know someone from the same town as someone in the class, or have similar majors or goals for the class.

It also helps me to learn more about them and their backgrounds so I can tweak the presentations and content to meet their expectations, needs, and skill levels.  

It also introduces the students to the main form of communication for the course, the discussion tool.  They learn to use it, and they learn about each other.

It has been very successful in my class.

One time we played two truths and a lie in the introduce yourself.  Boy did that get the conversation rolling.

What do you do the first of the semester to get students engaged in your course or to get them going in a positive direction?

Please share.

Wishing you all a great fall semester wherever you are.