Week 1: Introductions
Download this week’s plan as a Word document.
Download the PowerPoint slides for week 1.
Download the pre-survey questions as a Word document.
Download the scavenger hunt instructions as a Word document.
Download additional related resources.
Instructor Notes:
This is the only session with a synchronous element (except for the last week, which has a class party). This document contains a lesson plan and Powerpoint slide deck for an orientation session. Before the beginning of the semester, you may choose to survey students to understand their technology needs. A potential survey has been included.
Below, you’ll find content that you can paste as a label into the course LMS or send as an email. You may choose to personalize this with a short welcome video.
This session also contains a prompt for a “getting to know you” paragraph that students can submit as a participation activity, so that you can get a sample of their writing.
Student Instructions
Welcome to Introduction to Business Communications! I’m looking forward to meeting you all during our welcome session, which is <<date>>
In this session, we’ll get to know each other and make sure decisions for how the course will be run. To join the session, click on the BigBlueButton link below. If you can’t make the session, please contact me at <<email>>
<<insert welcome video>>
Learning Outcomes
- We will get to know each other and the course.
- We will make our “pods” and set some ground rules.
- We will make important decisions about how our course will go.
- We will learn to use the class site
Learning Activities
Orientation Session Instructions (For Instructor)
(See Powerpoint)
Agenda:
- Class ‘self portrait’ collaborative drawing exercise in collaborative whiteboard.
- Overview of the course
- Class charter
- Meet your pod members
- Course presentation scavenger hunt
- Final questions
Icebreaker
Using the group whiteboard in BigBlueButton, draw a class picture. Take a screenshot and post it to your LMS.
Class Charter Collaborative Writing Instructions
Goals:
- To build community
- To plan the course together
- To identify barriers
- To give students practice with using collaborative writing
Step 1: You can either create an editable document in OneDrive, or you can do this activity in the shared notes in BigBlueButton (or another video meeting platform). The document should have the categories:
- What are some features of a positive, useful learning experience? (Online or in person)
- What are some features of a learning experience that was negative or not useful? (Online or in person)
- What does respect look like in this online space?
- What are some worries or concerns you have about this course?
- What are some questions you have?
Step 2: During the session, introduce the activity by explaining the purpose. You can either have students all write in the document at once, or you can break students into groups and have each group spend 5 minutes on each topic. If a studen