Group items tagged

The key to a successful ice breaker is to make sure the ice breaker is specifically focused on meeting your objectives and appropriate to the group of people involved.

The key to a successful ice breaker is to make sure the ice breaker is specifically focused on meeting your objectives and appropriate to the group of people involved.

The key to a successful ice breaker is to make sure the ice breaker is specifically focused on meeting your objectives and appropriate to the group of people involved.

Create a brief PowerPoint that introduces yourself. Presentation can include graphics and media.

Students write 4 statements; 3 of the statements are truths about themselves or some aspect of their lives, and 1 of the statements is a lie. Students read their list out loud in class and the rest of the class try to guess the lie. This activity ALWAYS works and is a great way for you to get a glimpse of your students as individuals. The process works both ways, i.e., you should also participate in the activity.

This can be used in two different ways. In my classes, I have students list 10 books they would take with them if they were marooned on a desert island. Students share their lists with each other. (I sometimes use this as one of the first posts to my online class blog instead of in the classroom.) As a group activity, I ask students to gather in groups of 4 or 5 and come up with a list of 5 items they would take with them if they were marooned (the group as a whole can only bring 5 items). Groups read their lists out loud and justify their choices.

Compare Similar Documents

Make a Movie Review

Turn a Logo into a Tagxedo

It is very important to bond with group members---to break the ice, post photos, details, etc.---so that team members can know each other personally

It is a good idea to discuss and identify the tasks at the beginning of the group work. The key is to divide the work and let individual team member’s work on their tasks

Finally, bring together all the work and make sure it blends in. The work should flow and sound as if it was d

A Tangled Web Gather students in a circle sitting around you on the floor. Hold a large ball of yarn. Start by telling the students something about yourself. Then roll the ball of yarn to a student without letting go of the end of the yarn. The student who gets the ball of yarn tells his or her name and something good about himself or herself. Then the student rolls the yarn to somebody else, holding on to the strand of yarn. Soon students have created a giant web. After everyone has spoken, you and all the students stand up, continuing to hold the yarn. Start a discussion of how this activity relates to the idea of teamwork -- for example, the students need to work together and not let others down. To drive home your point about teamwork, have one student drop his or her strand of yarn; that will demonstrate to students how the web weakens if the class isn't working together.       Amy Henning, W. C. Petty School, Antioch, Illinois

In a case study examining asynchronous audio and text-based feedback in class of students, Ice, Curtis, Wells and Phillips (2007), found a higher level of satisfaction with asynchronous audio feedback among students in the study. In our class, I appreciate the audio feedback that Alex provides for both groups and me individually. It helps to clarify things, allows me to continuously review the material, see my mistakes and make my improvements. My hope is to be able to learn to do this and include as part of my course.

Make the chunks or pieces of information small enough to appeal to and be processed by those who have only 15 to 30 minutes a day to log in. These small pieces of information can quickly be processed by the student who can then return later to finish other assignments. There can be more than one chunk of information per unit or module, but the unit itself should be broke into manageable chunks.

An online syllabus should also contain information relating to the length of time a given assignment is anticipated to take for the average student.

With an engaging course in which many students are active participants, the number of messages posted within any course discussion forum can quickly grow. When such a case presents itself, it is a good idea to give specific minimum (and maximum if necessary) requirements concerning the number of posts each student is required to submit. For example, in an ice-breaking activity, you could require each student to post responses to 2 other student posts chosen by selecting the student above and below that student in a listing of students sorted by some criteria such as alphabetically by login. When minimum requirements and other guidelines are given, students know how much work is expected of them for the assignment, ensuring that they will allocate enough time to do an adequate job and enabling them able to prioritize their time. Even an active student can have a busy week in which he/she must schedule time to properly meet this minimum requirement.

This study explores the concept of transactional distance, a term coined by Moore (1993), which relates to the distance that exists in all learning relationships and can be more evident and potentially problematic in online learning environments.

Icebreakers are fun activities that help people get to know each other.