[ARCHIVED] Icebreaker sessions for students

[r_v_jones]

Hi all

I’m hoping I can get some ideas from the community about good examples or ideas of icebreaker sessions for students.

We are looking courses where the student cohort are spread across multiple faculties and colleges and only meet a few times per year. This means most of the conversation and interaction is likely to take place online.

For that reason I’m trying to come up with ideas of icebreaker activities we can integrate into the course. If we can we are trying to schedule the first couple of lectures to be face to face sop at least they might have an idea of who each other is.

Has anyone used canvas for these type of “icebreaker & get to know each other” sessions?

Thanks

[kona]

One that we're doing that has worked pretty well is a "sell yourself" discussion. We do a lot of group work and let students pick their own groups, so in the Sell Yourself discussion the student has to explain their strengths (and possibly weaknesses) and try to match up with other students who would like to work with them in a group.

[AlyssaProctor]

what this does not make sence

[arovner]

Hi Robert,

I teach fully online and use an Icebreaker Discussion at the beginning of each quarter.  This can really be a great way for students to get to know each other.  After asking about the usual info (where are you from, what is your major, etc.), I also ask them to tell everyone about their favorite food and one food they just can't stand.  You wouldn't believe the camaraderie that develops over mutual dislike of mushrooms,oysters, etc.  🙂  Another good question is to ask experienced online students to share any advice for succeeding in online courses. Often they say the same things I mention in my course introductory materials but they are much more powerful coming from peers.    Finally I always include instructions on how to leave an audio or video message in Canvas and encourage students to give it a try.  I typically do a sample ice breaker this way for them myself.  Not too many students do it but the few that do receive lots of compliments from their peers and increases the discussion activity.

Hope this is helpful!  Good luck to you this quarter!

Amy

[biray]

Hi  @r_v_jones ​ - check out  @scottdennis ​ discussion topic posted earlier this year (also in this Instructional Designers​ group) called Re: Does anyone have any experience/suggestions for interactive icebreakers in Canvas for an online ...​

[mcj5]

Hi Robert,

I saw NCTE's Trading Card activity used as an icebreaker recently. It's tagged grades 3 - 12 but the example I saw was in a post-grad course.

Trading Card Creator - ReadWriteThink

Depending on how you construct the activity, it can be targeted to a wide range contexts.

Mark

[nuwjg869]

One of our Learning Designers, Jessical Mansbach posted the following article to our blog, which offers a list of example icebreaker exercises, instructions for trying each, and some additional resources: Icebreakers, Online Learning, Active Learning .

At the risk of plugging a product, we are piloting a tool called Flip Grid which is a video discussion/communication tool that allows users to create web cam videos up to 90 seconds. With the right prompt, this can make the exercise much more engaging, challenging users to make the most of those 90 seconds, and encouraging them to use their webcam. Check out our example: Flip Grid .

For the majority of our courses, we have a simple "Introduce Yourself," discussion as our course icebreaker. In these discussion prompts we specifically encourage students to go beyond their usual elevator pitch to include personal fun facts about themselves. (Where they live, hobbies, favorite foods, travel destinations, etc.)  In addition, we expressly encourage students to test drive the media features of the discussion board (images, webcam, and mp3 recorder) b/c not only is it one of their first discussion topics, but an ungraded one; so there is an opportunity to have fun, and let it all hang out there, with out the judgement of a number or letter grade.

Our sample prompt:

Write a short professional/personal biography as an introduction to your instructor and classmates. Be sure to read and reply to other students to get to know your classmates.

Where you're from, what you do, why your taking this course. If you'd like to take a walk on the wild side, share your favorite foods, travel destinations, or tips/tricks. 

Take this opportunity to test drive the many features of Canvas' discussion board options which are revealed to you when you click into the Reply area. Try giving your response by web cam, or voice recording, by uploading a photo, or combining options for a broader multimedia experience.

[sahusted]

HI Everyone,

I just came across one a few days ago that I really like: 8 Nouns

---

This Discussion will start off (I hope) a series of self-introductory postings from everyone in this course.

1. Please tell us your preferred name;
2. then, use 8 nouns that best describe yourself. You should also describe why each particular noun selected is representative of who you are.
3. The message’s subject should be “Introducing Yourfirstname Yoursurname” (e.g., “Introducing Jane Smith”).
4. Read at least two other students’ postings and respond to them.

[dbarr3]

I teach fully online and for an icebreaker after they write a short bio about themselves I ask them to play a game by identifying two truths and one lie about themselves. The rest of the class then guesses which is the false statement. It is quite fun and students like it and I see them refer to things from that game later on in the semester.

[nuwjg869]

That's a fun one!

[atuominen]

Hi there,

I'm an itinerant sociology faculty, and for an icebreaker, I often supplement the initial Canvas discussion forum with an embedded padlet wall for photos.  My Social Inequality students post and comment about "Where in the world..." (would you like to go someday) and then posted a pic of themselves on a worldmap near their selected location.  (I've shown a snip, without my students' posts showing--my photobox was closer to Italy on the original.)  In another class, I simply invited students  to post a pic that reflects them in some way on a generic padlet wallpaper. Padlet is free:  https://padlet.com/my/dashboard  (I learned about it at a Canvas mini-con in Olympia, WA, last spring.) 

[Stef_retired]

Love Padlet!

[jaylon]

add some cool activities to the side