Post a warm, brief welcome in Announcements. Introduce yourself and invite students to connect with you!
Give a brief icebreaker in Discussion or using a web-based tool to allow students get to know each other. It’s a good idea to participate as well!
Describe your communications guidelines, in which you clearly identify what is expected of students and how they can reach you (see below for more).
Discuss academic integrity, and check to ensure students understand. Remind students to complete. Share resources about academic integrity.
Establish a Course Q&A in the Discussion forum. Check for questions and answer them regularly. If students message you privately, post as a general question and answer yourself!
Cultivate higher-level thinking skills with the following tools:
Audio and/or visual content
Projects: Encourage students to get up, go out, and collect practical skills
Simulations
Reality–based scenarios
Virtual Escape Rooms to Exit the Module
Video: face-to-face conferences
Timely participation: Set multiple deadlines for a module
Create small working groups
Engage in discussions to demonstrate interest in student contributions, pose questions, and suggest areas to explore.
Employ audio in addition to text.
Use videos such as TED Talks to motivation and inspiration.
Provide regular email or video messages that orient students to where they are in the course, connecting what they have learned to what is coming up next.
Create announcements that share course-related current events, tech tools, video examples, etc. that can help your students to see the course content in new ways.
Provide reflection and writing activities that help students to reflect on the course content. Make time in your schedule to respond to their reflections.
Hold regular synchronous office hours that provide support, examples, and other activities to clarify course content.
Encourage students to engage with each other as well. Create a “virtual meetup” in the Discussion forum to allow students to share information and ideas that are important to them.
Provide check-in surveys that ask students how they are doing: what do they like, what do they want more of?
Offer check-in synchronous online meetings with students in the course part-way through the term. You can use one of many free online scheduling tools, or Microsoft Bookings, to set up meetings conveniently.
Reach out to students who have not submitted work. Follow up if you do not hear back. Keep a record of your outreach. Utilize email templates for students struggling with attendance and engagement to adapt and use.
Utilize the Canvas health reports to promote engagement and keep track of students who may be struggling in the course.