Send an email to introduce yourself and provide instructions on how to get started. As an alternative, use Flipgrid to create a short video message relaying the same information so students can get a sense of your personality. Have students respond with their own.

Connect your students with each other and make them feel like they are part of a community of learners. Create a discussion forum in your LMS . Have students create a digital name tent in Google Slides or create an About Me Pinterest board.

Discussion forums, Padlet walls, or VoiceThread activities are great ways to promote student interaction.

Student-Instructor interaction can include both formal direct instruction and more informal support. A few examples include

• providing prompt feedback on assignments

• participating in discussion forums

• sending frequent announcements to summarize the previous week or describe the next week

• providing online office hours

• working with small groups of students to help teach portions of the course

Interaction between students can include formal course-related collaboration and interaction as well as more informal social interaction, which can increase students' comfort with each other and with the online environment. Student-student interaction-based activities include but are not limited to

• group projects

• group case studies

• peer instruction

• role playing

• synchronous or asynchronous discussions or debates

• collaborative brainstorming

• peer review of selected work

Content interaction is more than just reading a book or watching a video. It includes but is not limited to

• tutorials (using text, still images, audio, and/or video)

• quizzes (if the feedback is useful and usable)

• web quests

• reading/video discussion or reflections

• simulations

A well-organized course provides a clear path for students to progress. By providing structure and clear, welcoming instructions and information students will be more comfortable and confident and will ask fewer logistical questions.

Facilitating online instruction is more than simply requiring students to post to a discussion and reply to others. It involves regularly reading and providing feedback on student postings, encouraging participation, moving the discussion forward when it stalls or gets off track, identifying and drawing out areas of agreement and disagreement, pointing out linkages, and helping students articulate shared understandings.