◉ REQUIRED STANDARD

Expectations

• 1. An interactive introduction activity should be facilitated during the first week of the course to facilitate:

     • The engagement of students into an online community of their peers, which rubric research correlates to student success.

     • Gathering information about your students that can be used to better connect the course with their background, interests, expectations, etc., and to better demonstrate the real-world significance of the course.

     • Part of the research that led to the development of this rubric clearly illustrates that the earlier students are engaged into the course, and the more frequently they are required to do so, the more successful they will be.

     • It satisfies the DOE requirements of an engagement activity (DOE 34 C.F.R. § 668.22).
       
       

  2. Explain to the students where and how you want the introductions to be done.

     • Commonly the instructor will use his/her introduction as an example for students to follow.

Examples

• • The most common way to facilitate this would be to use the discussion feature.  Questions you can ask of your students include:

    • Who are they (background)?

    • Why are they taking this course?

    • What are their expectations of the course/instructor?

    • What's their biggest fear about taking (this/an online) course?

References

• • QM FIPSE rubric I.4 and I.5

  • IDEA methods 1, 2, 4, 10

  • DOE 34 C.F.R. § 668.22