Eight nouns

• Ask students to think about eight nouns that best describe them on a personal level. Allow students to reflect individually on their ideas and then encourage themselves to share why their set of nouns are representative of their personalities and backgrounds.
• Synchronous: Consider using “emojis” or the “raise hands” option to indicate whether they’d like to share their insight with the larger group and then encourage them to share.
• Asynchronous: The same activity can be facilitated through a discussion board.

Collaborative resume

• Ask students to create a group resume that captures what they hope to get out of your course, their current knowledge of your subject, and any related work experiences that they wish to highlight.
• Synchronous: Consider using breakout rooms to schedule the sub-tasks.
• Asynchronous: Give students a time limit to prepare for the activity.

What’s in front of you

• Encourage participants to share a photo of what’s in front of their workspace at home. Ask them to use this to describe how it helps or can help them achieve goals or other reasons for the photos.
• Synchronous: Have students upload their photos in live chat or display the object directly on the screen. They can also add a brief description for context or talk about it in the chat.

Story of your name

• Ask learners to share personal insight on their names. How did their name get chosen? Explain some background of their family name. This activity allows students better to understand their peers’ backgrounds and family histories.
• Synchronous: Have students share their name and its relevance or meaning.
• Asynchronous: Use a discussion board to facilitate this concept. Use of presentation software and/or video presentations could be employed.

The soundtrack of your life

• Ask students to think of 5-6 songs that represent their lives, philosophy of life, beliefs, personalities, etc. Next, ask them to think of a set of 6 songs with 2 representing their past, 2 their present and 2 their future.
• Synchronous/Asynchronous: Ask students to share the songs and explain the reason behind choosing the songs.

Your favourite quote

• Ask students to share a favourite quote and post it on the board/ discussion to explain why the quote resonates with them.
• Synchronous: Make use of a virtual whiteboard if the tool provides and use the discussion boards
• Asynchronous: Ask students to respond to others’ posts to relate to them. Encourage the use of “like,” commenting and emojis.