Using Online Icebreakers

Objective:

This job aid will show you several activities to encourage interaction in your online course.

 
 
 

In an online environment, human interaction does not just happen naturally. Your online students need a way to get to know you, the instructor, and others. There are several ways to encourage your students to interact with each other. The idea is to be creative and set several guidelines for students to follow in order to stimulate asynchronous discussions.

 
 
Techniques:
 
 
Biography
 

Create a biography of yourself and prepare a brief video introducing yourself and the course topic to the class. This could be the first thing that the student sees in his or her course shell. This is a great way to present your personality online and set the mood for the semester.
 
 

Vita
 

Have students place a one page vita in document sharing for all to view within the first week of the semester.

 
 

Threaded discussion

 

Set up a threaded discussion asking students to respond and share about his or her experiences with issues related to the course topic.
 
 

Send a "Welcome" email (from eCollege.com)

 

Even before the course starts, send an email introducing yourself, welcoming students to the course, providing tips for getting started, and/or informing them as to how to access helpdesk resources. You might also provide them with alternate methods for reaching you in case of an "emergency"--e.g. your office phone, home number, or an alternate email address.
 
 

Course Home Page Welcome (from eCollege.com)

 

In the announcements and/or the Course Homepage post a "Welcome" message that greets the students and informs them as to how to get started and how to get help. Think about enhancing your text messages with attractive images, as well a brief audio or video introduction. You may have essentially the same information as in your Welcome email, but being redundant in the online environment is more beneficial than not.
 
 

Set up a "Class Lounge" (from eCollege.com)
 

Under Course Home, create an informal conversational space using the Threaded Discussion tool. This sort of ungraded "CyberCafe" or "Discussion Board," like the Student Union on campus, allows students to connect on a social level. It can be a very useful place to have students introduce themselves to one another, as well as to ask questions or make observations about the course. Note that it provides an alternative to emailing you, and it enables all class members to see important issues raised and resolved.

 
 

Establish a Chat Time (from eCollege.com)

 

In addition, or as a complement to, the Class Lounge, create some "office hours" when students can drop in or invite students to contact you for one-to-one appointments.
 
 

Be available and accessible (from eCollege.com)
 

In all communications, particularly early on when establishing "first impressions," to the extent possible, strive to let students know that you are available, approachable, supportive, and actively interested in mentoring them. While this may involve some effort on your part, the payoffs for both instructor and students will be worth it.
 
 

Two Lies and A Truth
 

Students are asked to list three interesting things about themselves. (I own two iguanas; I once shook hands with Tom Cruise; and I love to waterski.) Two must be lies and one must be true. Other students must vote to determine which interesting thing is a lie. The student with the most incorrect votes wins.
 
 

Childhood Dream
 

Ask the students to share their childhood dream (what they wanted to be or do when they grew up) and then ask them to reflect on how their current coursework correlates with their current aspirations.
 
 

Vacation Needs
 

Ask the students to respond to these questions about distance and fun in the Discussion Thread Area:

A. "Since this is summer time and we would most likely rather be on vacation, tell us the farthest distance you have traveled and where to on a vacation or a business-vacation?"

B. "Where would you like to go on a vacation right now if you could?" With this sharing in the on-line class, others may have been to some of the same places or would like to find out more from those that have gone.
 
 

Vita Trading
 

Ask the students to upload their vitas to document sharing to share with the whole class. Then each student will then read the other students' vitae and come up with 5 words to describe each student in a threaded discussion. The idea behind this activity is to get the students to introduce themselves and each other.
 
 

Interviewing
 

Ask the students to pair up and interview each other. The students will then report on what they discovered about each other.
 
 

Miscomm-puter-unication
 

Ask the class to share their most embarrassing mishap using a computer. Share with the students your own experience, for example, replying to the wrong person in an email. This will loosen them up and cause a few to chuckle before we embark on a whole new way of thinking…using technology instead of paper and pen.
 
 

Meeting Someone
 

Storytelling is a wonderful way to get people to show (some of) his or her true colors. Ask the students to share about his or her favorite musician, telling what they think draws them into that kind of music or musician's personality and then conjure a fantasy story about meeting them. In short, ask: Who is your favorite musician, why do you like them, and what would you say to him or her if you could meet them today?

 
 

Memory Lane
 

Since so many online students are so diverse in age as well as other things, such as ethnicity, it is good to close or expose the generation gaps that might exist. Ask the students to list three major world events that happened the year in which they were born, then have the other members guess the year and post a short response on whether they remembered the events or had never heard of them.
 
 

Mapquest
 

Many online classes include a variety of students from different cultures and locations around the world. In this activity, each student is to:
1. Identify their location (where they live at the moment they take the course)
2. how far is it from USA - Mobile, Alabama (use a mapping site from the internet, ie. www.mapquest.com)
3. Identify one interesting highlight of that location (example: Lexington, Tennessee is exactly 100 miles from Memphis and 100 miles from Nashville).
 
 

Tell us about yourself
 

How do you primarily identify yourself? (Are you a parent first, a professional 1st, a christian first, a student 1st, etc.) What is your zodiac sign? Have you successfully explained your area of study to any of your family members yet (This applies in Instructional Design)?

 
 

YourName dot Explain
 

Introduce yourself and tell us about how or why you have the name you have, e.g. you were named after a relative or a parent's best friend. It could be your first, middle or nickname.