Break the ice

College of Business academics share their strategies – © RMIT University

Facilitators play an important role in creating an active online learning community. Introductory activities or ice-breakers can help learners and facilitators get acquainted, provide insights into who is in the online environment, and they can also act as an informal diagnostic. Are learners able to insert images or links in a discussion post? Can they use the forum? Can they find a relevant digital resource in the library? These basic examples demonstrate that facilitators can’t make assumptions about learners’ digital literacies, their prior knowledge or their work experience. Icebreakers can help us find out about our learners in a low risk way.

“What I do online is what I do in the classroom. I try to connect.”

Associate Professor Kathy Douglas, RMIT University

Strategies

• Develop at least one icebreaker activity early in your course – and maybe another after learners have had a break. Icebreakers also work in synchronous sessions (such as web conferencing).

• Set up a ‘getting to know you’ activity. For example, use the discussion forum to ask learners to introduce themselves. Ask learners to outline their academic and/or work background, what they want to get out of the learning experience, and where they see themselves after completing the course. Consider asking learners to include an image of something they see every day or to suggest who would play them in a movie of their life…this should be a fun and informative activity.
• If you have a rating function (e.g. most discussion forums have these, Facebook and Twitter do) you might activate that – and ask learners to rate a minimum of three posts. If the rating function is not available, this can also be achieved using comment function.

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Presenters in this online teaching video provide an overview of icebreakers.
© Open2Study, Teaching Adult Learners: Icebreakers

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Virtual icebreakers – An extensive index of online icebreakers

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