Before Your Course Begins
7 Welcome Announcement
Announcements Overview
The Announcement tool in is a powerful communication hub that plays a pivotal role in creating an interactive, engaging online learning experience. This feature allows instructors to post timely updates, reminders, and resources, keeping students informed and actively connected with the course’s progress.
From highlighting weekly topics to sharing assignment details, giving feedback, or promoting discussion, the Announcement tool offers a versatile platform to foster a sense of community and continuity in your course. Leveraging this tool effectively can significantly boost students’ engagement, contributing to a richer, more vibrant educational journey.
Updating the Welcome Announcement
To update the Welcome Announcement in your term shell, take the steps outlined below or as demonstrated in the video:
- On your course home page, select the drop-down arrow to the right of the welcome announcement title
- Click Edit
- In the Headline and Content fields, update the text in square brackets [ ]
Note: Do not change or remove any text in curly braces { } - Scroll down and click Update
- Finally, return to the course home page (click on the name of your course at the top of the page) and check that your announcement has been updated
Introducing the Course with a Personal Touch: The Video Note Tool
In online learning environment, creating a personal connection with learners becomes both more challenging and more crucial. A warm, inviting introduction can set the tone for the entire course, and this is where the Video Note tool in Avenue to Learn comes into play.
The Video Note tool allows instructors to record and share brief video messages directly within Avenue to Learn. It’s a powerful, accessible way to add a visual and auditory dimension to your course, infusing it with a sense of human touch that text-based communication sometimes lacks.
Adding a video note to your welcome announcement is particularly impactful. An instructor introduction video allows learners to see and hear their instructor, fostering a sense of familiarity and connection from the outset. It helps humanize the virtual learning experience, showing students that there’s a real person behind the screen who’s invested in their learning journey.
A well-crafted introduction video can:
- Establish Rapport: Students get to know you beyond your written profile. They can see your personality and teaching style, which helps create a bond early on.
- Set Expectations: You can use this opportunity to express what you hope your students will gain from the course, what they can expect in terms of workload, and how you’ll support them throughout their learning journey.
- Boost Engagement: Seeing their instructor’s enthusiasm can motivate students to engage more with the course material, their peers, and their instructor.
Remember, your introduction video doesn’t have to be lengthy or overly produced. It just needs to be genuine and welcoming. In the upcoming sections, we’ll guide you through the process of using the Video Note tool and creating an engaging introduction video that resonates with your students.
The video below demonstrates how to add a video note to an announcement and enable closed captioning.
View Video
For more information and step-by-step instructions, visit
Creating Engaging Connections with Video Notes
References
D2L. (2020, April 16). Record short videos for your courses with Brightspace. YouTube. https://youtu.be/TgpM8tZ7CaQ
D2L BrightSpace. (2022b, October 3). Announcements overview: Instructor. YouTube. https://youtu.be/IPg–c_gJng
McMaster University. (2018, January 17). Announcement – update welcome announcement. YouTube. https://youtu.be/daJzUW93akw
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (June 22 Version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/