Topic 3: Course Facilitation by Semester/Term Sequential Order

The material in this topic is substantively taken from http://facdev.e-education.psu.edu/teach/manage and modified for the UBC context.

First week facilitation

Most courses begin by asking students to post a self-introduction to a class discussion forum (typically in Connect) as a way to break the ice and begin to build a sense of community. This is also a great way for the instructor to get a feel for who the students are and what experience they bring to the class.

  1. Make your own “personal introduction” post to the class to get the ball rolling. In your post, tell students what information you would like them to include in their own introductions.
  2. Review the personal introductions that your students post to the class discussion forum and respond to each, or to the entire class in a single note, as a way of welcome.
  3. Summarize the postings for your class by posting a note to the appropriate discussion forum or send an e-mail to all students, sharing what you’ve learned about the class make-up and addressing their class expectations (e.g., “Several of you stated that you hoped to learn more about XYZ in this class. While we won’t be covering XYZ specifically, we will address the more general issue of…”)
  4. Contact students who have not yet accessed your Connect site. In Connect, you can easily see who has, and has not, accessed your class through the Performance Dashboard. If a student hasn’t accessed the class yet, there may be a problem that needs your attention.

Note: When using Connect to send a note to students who haven’t accessed your class in Connect yet, you will want to be sure to send the note to their external e-mail address! If they haven’t even logged in to your class yet, they won’t see your note otherwise! Connect has both an Email tool and a Message tool. Be sure to read the difference between the two so you know how each would work. Alternatively, you may email your students use the Send Email utility in Faculty Service Centre.

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