This blog post has been adapted from a presentation at D2L Fusion by Instructional Designer Lucy Wolski.

What comes to mind when you think of the word ‘home’?

What if we approached the challenge of creating excellent courses by focusing on making a course feel homey. Making a space feel comfortable, inviting, and conducive to our ability to do our best work takes effort. Digital learning spaces especially take effort to spruce up. Here are some easy tips and tricks using the lenses of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB), as well as humanizing learning and teaching for our whole, authentic selves.
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First Impressions

In one study of psychology students, the student impression of the first class period persisted until the end of the semester and was reflected on course evaluations (n=384). Let’s take the finding that first impressions are lasting impressions and run with it!

Welcome Announcement

Here’s how to cover the basics succinctly and with a broad, welcoming, and motivating tone.

Welcome to our class!
The goal of this class is to _____.
Next, read the Syllabus so you know exactly what is due and when. Check the Content for all course materials.
Have a question? Find the Course Forum, which is where you can ask me or classmates questions about the course. (Try to reserve emailing for things that are either personal or truly urgent).
I’m looking forward to having you in the class this semester. Best of luck and let’s get started!

McKean (2022) reminds us to check our communication with students:

Write and speak as if you’re talking to just one student. (Because they are just one). Sometimes it helps to keep a specific student in mind while you do this. This is especially important when recording audio or video messages and comes across in the tone and volume of your voice.

Use “I” and “we” and emotional words when you communicate. Like:

“I’m excited about this next lesson,”
“I’m worried some of you haven’t completed your 1st draft yet,”
“I’m glad that you included this idea in your essay,” or
“In this next lesson, we look more closely at the impact of COVID-19 on the higher ed system.”

Course Intro Video

Course Intro videos are short, informational welcome messages tied to a specific course. They share the overarching goals of the course, add instructor presence, and can be used to promote your course.

1. WHO ARE YOU?
In the first section, introduce yourself and your credentials. This professional profile might include your educational background and degrees, your work experience, and your research area.

2. WHAT IS THE COURSE?
what kind of course it is. Is it required? An elective? Online? Hybrid? What is the primary objective? What is the course flow?

3. WHY SHOULD I CARE?
The last but most important point is why should the student care. Here you can connect the course to real-world applications. Will they use this knowledge in their future career?

Intro Module

The intro module goes by many names, but it is the place where information about the course lives.

Welcome and Start Here 👋
Module 0 📍
Getting Started 🏁
Course Information ℹ️
Other

These emoji are wonderful to add tone and visual interest. Here’s how to add them to your Brightspace course, anywhere there is text.

Home Page

An obvious opportunity to make a course feel like home is the home page.

Widgets

Our home page is based on widgets. You can make custom widgets to make this page full of useful assets and personality! The example below uses replace strings to display the student’s first name.

A Quick Guide is a widget called D2L Welcome. It is deceptively easy to create. In this example, I’m using the Quick Guide to make effective first impressions. How many instructors in the world have complained that the students don’t read the syllabus? This guide lets you select the most important information and bring it to the top.

Step 1 = Talk with an instructional designer to add the D2L Welcome Widget
Step 2 = Name a module something with the word “Welcome”, and add your pages.

Brightspace does the rest!

Activity Feed

There are many ways to utilize this built-in community space. Check out the infographic, Ideas for Activity Feed!

Overview Page

The first time a student clicks on Content they are taken to the Overview page. It’s often a missed opportunity because instructors don’t know what to put there.

https://sites.wit.edu/tlc/2022/01/21/brightspace-overview-page-5-ways/

Instructor Presence

Instructor presence is “The sense of ‘presence’ an instructor creates to connect with and lead students through an educational experience”.

Self-assess some of the ways you create a presence in Brightspace. If you are doing five or more of these things you are doing great!

Brightspace User Profile Pic
Meet the Teacher page with a picture or video
Option for virtual office hours
Send students individual emails to comment on their progress
Solicit student feedback
Respond to student questions in the time frame in which you say you will
Provide timely, specific, and detailed feedback to students
Sprinkle in comments or follow-up questions in discussion threads
Post announcements to support students in the learning process
Utilize intelligent agents to reach out to struggling students
Record video module overviews
Show your personality, passion, and expertise

There are many ways to make a home-away-from-home. This article covered first impressions, home page, overview page, and instructor presence. It also talked about welcoming language and adding emoji to course materials. Hopefully, you found one or more takeaways that you can implement in your course to make it home. 🏠

References

Instructor Presence – Teach Online. (2020, April 17). Teach Online; Teach Online. https://teachonline.asu.edu/2020/04/instructor-presence/
Laws, E. L., Apperson, J. M., Buchert, S., & Bregman, N. J. (2010). Student evaluations of instruction: When are enduring first impressions formed? North American Journal of Psychology, 12(1), 81–92.
Loder, M. and Wolski, L. (2020, April 24). Dynamic Design: Visual Elements of a Course – Teach Online. Teach Online; Teach Online. https://teachonline.asu.edu/2020/04/dynamic-design-visual-elements-of-a-course/
McKean, T. (2022). Teaching Toolkit: Communicating With Students. Google Docs. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FAemuAN9fVAz9ZtTJPfSWA3hcJOW_uvFObq-_SwAGj4/edit
Wolski, L. (2022, January 21). Brightspace Overview Page 5-Ways | WIT Teaching & Learning Hub. Wit.edu. https://sites.wit.edu/tlc/2022/01/21/brightspace-overview-page-5-ways/
‌Wolski, L. (2022, January 21). Brightspace Overview Page 5-Ways | WIT Teaching & Learning Hub. Wit.edu. https://sites.wit.edu/tlc/2022/01/21/brightspace-overview-page-5-ways/‌

Create a Welcoming and Inclusive Virtual Learning Environment