Gina Bennett

Your theory rings true for me, Derek.

My story is a little bit sidebar but maybe pertinent in some ways. About 13 years ago, my family moved from one end of Canada to the extreme other end. We knew nobody in our new community. My husband got a job right away but for the first year I was at home, looking after 2 school-aged kids; otherwise feeling pretty isolated.

But... I kept in close email contact with my old buddies & with family members. I took some online classes & started teaching my own online course as a PD activity. One day it occurred to me just how 'real' my virtual life had become: my friends, colleagues, teachers & students were all online & 90% of them were ONLY available to me online. That was the year in which the technology became truly transparent for me & I started to 'see' the personalities without even noticing the computer screen. And I suppose that's the year in which I developed a comfortable online personality or presence of my own.

I suppose it's easier to be a good online host (managing introductions with sensitivity & flair) once you feel truly at home in the environment yourself.

It's great to have you with us, Sue. I know from your participation in our Live session today that you bring a wealth of experience to this discussion!

SCoPE is a bit pokey today (probably because of the Olympic's increased network traffic on the server) but will no doubt improve after the initial setup is over.

gina

In our live-time "Pimp your post" session yesterday, several people mentioned that their particular learner audience was not technically sophisticated and that online introductions requiring video and/or audio would only scare them away. But with a good, simple text post, you can do a LOT to bring together a group of learners.

So the question for you in this thread is: what's the best conversation starter you've experienced, either as a teacher/facilitator or a learner? If you can describe the context a bit, that would help too.

I'll start the ball rolling with an example: One of the best 'introductory post' starters I experienced was pretty low-key & low-tech. The instructor asked us to think back to our university or college years & to recall the course that has had the most impact on our lives. What made it so memorable?

This is a pretty simple question... but it worked for our group. We were a class of mostly educators, all strangers at the start of the class. The topic was personal enough but not too personal; it was related to the course we were taking (curriculum design) but not too related. It certainly did a good job of launching the course as a whole.

Hi everybody,

This is just a quick note to let you know that if you're coming here from the synchronous ETUG session "Pimp your Post", you're in the right place. Or if you're just interested in any aspect of doing good introductions for online courses & workshops, you're in the right place too. Please post a 'hi' when you arrive here... I'll be back after our synchronous session with a 'proper' introduction & to carry on the conversation.

Gina

The one interview I am thinking about involved the use of Skype for a job interview. We had a bit of trouble with the technology at first -- not much, but just enough to unnerve the applicant I think. It was kind of downhill from there. The applicant got it into her head that the technology glitch was somehow her fault (unlikely) & was subsequently on the defensive throughout the interview. Due to technological limitations we were unable to convey the body language communication that would have restored her confidence & put her back at ease. I have wondered since how (or if) we could have saved the interview...