Hitting the Ground Running: Maximizing the Week Before

Do you remember when you first went to college? Do you remember getting a tour of the campus? How about coming hours, if not days, before your first class to make sure you knew how to navigate where you were going? A similar recommendation can be made for online students. We might not have our classes in Blackboard open before the first day of class, but we can send and e-mail to our students to let them know exactly what they need in order to successfully navigate the class. Consider this a "getting ready" note that spells out information for how to log in to the course, who to contact with technical difficulties, what to do once logged in, and instructor information. 

We are in a time where technology is used everywhere, but that doesn't mean we should assume that students in an online or even hybrid course are skilled enough to handle the requirements needed in an educational environment. Not every student is going to know how to access their online textbook, or create a post in the discussion board. It might seem silly to spell everything out, but you'll thank me later when you aren't getting a million "I need help" messages from students because they don't know what's going on.