First Day Jitters

I should have written about my first-day jitters before I got through the first module of the online seminar I'm taking....but my worry about the "first day" got in the way of my blogging about the first day. The irony isn't lost on me.

The first day is past, but even a week later, I still feel the need to think about how it felt. I was nervous like a 9th grader before the first day of high school. What if I couldn't find my class? I worried about other things, too, but as the start date grew closer, that question was the pressing one. I suddenly understood the questions that my office has gotten from high school students taking an online dual enrollment course through our college. "When do we start? Where do we go to start? What do we do?" I knew the "door" was somewhere in my computer, and I did find it without much trouble after I read the syllabus. But I'm a person who's "done school" for almost for ever, and I can imagine that a high school or college student new to an online class wouldn't necessarily look to the syllabus for instructions about where to start.

The first-day email from my instructor helped to affirm that I was in the right place and started off on the right tasks. It makes me think about a chain of communications that might be helpful to online students. For starters: an initial email that confirms their registration and gives them a short list of three steps:

1. Read the attached syllabus.
2. Mark these important dates on their calendars.
3. Buy these books or materials.
4. Watch for another email on [date] explaining next steps. 

About a week before class starts, another email might be in order to direct students to the "doorway" for the class and tell them when and where to be there. A link to an introductory video of the instructor might also be nice at that point--I know that I appreciated that welcome from our instructor. 

A first-day email sent from the instructor (like the one I received) would be a great way to affirm that yes, "we" are moving ahead together today, and that the instructor will be there to answer questions and help us know we are headed in the right direction. My instructor gave prompt feedback on the first assignment. This was really important for assuring me that I was on the right track....and that we are working together as student and teacher, not as learner and computer.