Social isolation

In a face-to-face course, you can ask other students:

  • How the course works, to make sure you're not missing anything
  • What is due when, to check your understanding
  • How to get your #*&*@&* computer to run the #&($&@$ course software
  • How to upload files to your web server
  • How to get a web server in the first place
  • Lots more...

A coupla minutes chatting with other students before and after class can help a lot.

You don't have that in an online course. That's a problem. There's the Moodle forum, but... well, it's the Moodle forum. You can ask me questions, of course, but often you won't know what questions to ask, or that you need to ask a question.

You should make your own group(s) using tools like Discord. Use them to help each other.

Some of you will have to take the lead on this. It would defeat the purpose if I was involved. You already have ways to talk to me, in the Moodle forums, during office hours (the best way), etc. This is for you to help each other.

I won't join your Discord group. If something comes up in Discord you want to ask me about, you can use office hours (preferably) or the Moodle forum.

It will be up to you to manage your group. If there are flame wars, you'll need to sort it out. Remember, you'll meet each other in future courses.

You can use the Moodle forum to talk about setting up a group, and tell others how to access whatever you make. After that, you're on your own.