Come Together: Student Activities

Ice breakers have always been a good idea to do that precisely, break the ice in a new atmosphere.  As mentioned in Chapter 7 (Ko & Rossen, 2010), this activity “allows student to begin to form some sense of community”.  An interesting factor within the Ice Breaker activity is the “icebreaking team-building activity”.  I liked the idea about encouraging students as well as instructors to upload their picture to give it a personal touch.  Even if students don’t feel comfortable with personal pictures, as it has happened in class activities, some students upload pictures of their favorite artist, hobby etc… and still it gives us, the viewer, a sense of this person.  Taking advantage of technology, I like the idea that now students have the option of creating an avatar to represent them in such activities.

I have already done role playing and simulations in class activities and they have been a very fun learning activity.  However, online simulations and role plays open a whole new dimension of possibilities.  Luckily, the book we use for our class has many great activities that can also be facilitated online.  In an online activity of this kind there are important factors to take into consideration such as providing technical support and “time out” periods as mentioned in chapter seven. Another point I agree with is that simplicity sometimes does it and especially when it comes to instructions. Students need to be able to understand the activity procedure in order to be able to concentrate on developing the activity.   I will definitely integrate and experiment with these activities modifying and editing and improving every step of the way.