These recommendations will help you create the Welcome Message that students will see when entering the course. It’s a very important piece of the course design as it creates expectations and focuses students’ attention on certain details of the course that they may miss otherwise. It also sets the tone of the course.
- Consider your “voice” and how you want students to perceive you
- Timing: 3- 5 minutes
- Can be audio or video (video is more personal – students feel more of a connection); can also be a narrated PowerPoint
- Introduce yourself
- Personal Connection or enthusiasm about teaching this course
- Overview of course/pacing
- Highlight various course components
- Highlight important resources, depending on the course (Library Guide, the Writing Centre, etc.)
- Remind them to read course syllabus and timeline for due dates
- Contact information
- How to get started/first activity (Introductory Forum, Syllabus Quiz, etc.)
- Please refrain from mentioning any specific dates or deadlines
Below is an example of an instructor welcome message that you can access outside of onQ: https://stream.queensu.ca/Watch/Dr24CdYm
The Arts and Science Online Multimedia team can professionally record your welcome message anywhere on campus. If you are interested in having your welcome message professionally recorded, please contact asomm@queensu.ca. Please note that professional recordings need to be filmed 3 weeks before the start of your course.
Please note that due to COVID-19, in-person filming services are currently not available. Please see this documentation for more information on recording your own welcome message.