Please use any of the content on this website for your course!
Introductions have an obvious purpose in a course: They give students the opportunity to learn something about their fellow students. But they can do more than that. An introduction forum can help students:
Retrieve and share prior knowledge
Examine assumptions and preconceptions
Connect learning outcomes to other parts of their lives
Set goals and intentions
Introductions are important. Even if you have no other discussion activities in your course, include introductions.
Introduce yourself as an example of how to reply to the post.
Encourage students to post a photo of themselves (or other representative image) and/or add a profile picture to their account in the learning management system.
Ask students to share what they know about the subject matter or what they hope to learn (and why).
Ask students to reply to classmates’ posts that haven’t yet received a reply before they reply to other posts.
Consider using a video discussion for introductions.
Assign one due date for the original post and another (at least two days later) for replies.
I'm so glad you're here.
Take a moment to introduce yourself to me and to your classmates in a short video (1 minute or so). Use the record/upload media button in the menu above to make your video and post it. (Don't make us download your video to watch it; be sure it's embedded in your post.)
There are two requirements: tell us what you prefer to be called and share one or two non-school things about yourself. Introduce us to your dog. Play a little tune for us. Show us your prized comic book collection or your max bench press rep. Whatever! It's up to you.
Once you post your video, reply to other people's introductions, too. Reply to one person who mentions a common interest or experience and one person who doesn’t—maybe you can find something you do have in common.
Welcome to this fast-paced course on global and community health! The goal of this first discussion is to get you in the global and community health mood. There are two required posts in this discussion:
Share a music video that has something to do with global and community health. It can be any genre and from any era. The video doesn't have to reflect your point of view: Posting the video is not an endorsement of its message. But please don't post anything other students might find offensive, objectifying, or unkind. And make sure you post a video that hasn't been posted yet.
Respond to a classmate's post. How is the video related to global and community health? What does it say about the subject? Is it optimistic or pessimistic? What kinds of insights does it contain?
Click the "like" button to your favorite videos (optional).
You can respond to this post in text format or by inserting a short video. You can record and insert a video by clicking on the "play button" icon in the rich text editor formatting menu above the reply dialog box. Insert the video directly into your reply; do not insert a link to URL or app outside of Canvas.
Tell us about yourself and why you are interested in taking this class.
Who are you? (Name, preferred pronouns, preferred Nickname)
Where are you? (Where in the country or world are you presently located while taking this course.)
What do you hope to learn in this class?
Have you ever visited an archaeological site in the United States or Canada? Which one? What was your impression of the site and what did you learn about the people who lived there?
If you have never visited an archaeological site in North America, is there a site that you would really like to visit in the future, and why?
Upload a picture of the North American archaeological site that you have visited or would like to visit in your response. You can do that by clicking on the picture icon in the second row of the rich text editor formatting menu above the response dialog box. That button will direct you to how to upload an image file from your computer. Embed the image directly into your response; DO NOT insert a URL or a link to the image elsewhere.
Complete your post by 3:30 pm Tuesday.
Find two other students with which you have a connection (you are living in the same town, you have similar reasons for wanting to take this class, you have visited the same site, or want to visit the same site, etc.) and reply to their post. Be respectful, friendly, and supportive.
Respond to two other people's posts by 3:30 pm Thursday.
Introductions - Large and Small Discussions - Open Forums - Peer Review & Critique
Group Projects & Study Groups - Video Discussions - Social Annotation