B. Before the Course Starts: Getting In

Examples of instructor activities:

• Confirm student registration.
• Identify important deadlines.
• Confirm that all of the course components are present and up-to-date.
• Ensure that course materials such as textbooks, manuals, and equipment are sent.
• Upload/edit the schedule.
• Clearly articulate assignment expectations and due dates. Consider providing a rubric that shows what you are looking for and how marks will be assigned.
• State how assignments should be submitted (e.g., via Dropbox or email).
• Clearly state evaluation and exam expectations as well as due dates.
• Ensure that there is introductory content such as a ‘Course overview’, ‘How to succeed in the course’, ‘Instructor contact information’, ‘How to get technical help’ …
• Ensure that all links and other online resources work as expected.
• Consider creating an introductory video: a video of you helps them “see” who will be teaching and guiding them through the course and sets the tone as well as the expectations of the course, makes expectations transparent and easy to find, brings things to the surface.