by Tasha F. Davis

When is the “First Day” of Class?

Simple question? Maybe not. Course start dates are certainly readily available; but for online students the answer is not as easy as it may seem.

Research presented by faculty from Xavier University of Louisiana at the 2016 Lilly Conference revealed when students are asked, “when is the first day of an online course?” their answers often vary. For some it is the official start date of the semester; for many others it is the first time they login – whenever that might be.

Online students are often eager to get started, and may attempt to access your course before the first class day. This means students may be logging in and accessing course material well before you have things adequately prepared for them to do so. Many others, however, will wait until late in the first week or even during the second week to login for the first time. This means your official first day in an online class could stretch well into the second week of the semester!

Here are a few tips to consider when preparing for the first day of your online course:

  • Announce orientation dates prominently. If, like most instructors, you have a required orientation made available before the official start date of the semester, make sure students are aware of the start date and let them know course information will not be available until that date.
  • Post a Welcome announcement. Before classes begin, post a welcome announcement on your course landing page. Let students know your start date, and provide any details about what they can do, if anything, in the meantime.
  • Answer FAQs. Make things easy during the first few days by posting answers to your most frequently asked questions. This includes what to do if they need technical assistance.

Online students have higher expectations of what will be available to them during the first days of a semester than do traditional face-to-face (F2F) students. They fully expect the course to be ready; this means assignments posted and content available and ready for them to explore.

Just like we use the first day of a F2F course to establish ground rules and set expectations, you should do the same online. Your credibility in an online environment is established by the strength of the organization of your course and the availability of the content students feel they need in order to be successful.