Thoughts, writing & snippets

Marguerite Koole, PhD

Identity Accelerator #8: Easter Egg Hunt

mkoole, · Categories: Educational technology, Identity, Teaching

Introduction

When a new semester begins, the students know the drill . . . “Update your biography. Post your introductory message in the Welcome Forum. Read your classmates’ introductory messages. Make a pleasant comment on each introductory message.” There is nothing wrong with that process except that it is the same for every class. So, here is a little twist on it.

Image of an egg in an egg cup

Ask your students to put and “Easter egg” in their biography. An Easter egg, in digital terms, is a hidden treasure. They can choose anything. They could embed an image, a video, a lie, something true-but-unbelievable, something wonderful, etc. The students can be sneaky and post information in white font on a white background. They can add tiny links to videos or multimedia. The task is to read each others’ biographies and find the Easter egg is: what is that special thing that has been embedded in the message?

Modalities

 

Preparation

 

Instructor responsibilities

 

Comments

I have done variations on this exercise in which I have asked the students to complete their biographies in the learning management system. Then, I told them to post something contradictory in their welcome messages. It’s a great way to ask the students to more deeply examine each other’s identities.

 

Rating

4.5/5 stars

Note: for an introduction to identity accelerators for online teaching and learning visit this entry.

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