There is a LOT to do in that first day, made more complicated by the fact that I work in an accelerated program. I think some of the elements might need to be shifted to the LMS shell, like a welcome video from me about who I am, my background, etc, the syllabus, and a discussion space for students to get to know one another. I do think it is still important to take the time to review course objectives, expectations, how the students will be evaluated, but it would need to be condensed I think. I do like the idea of assigning seats and putting students in groups, maybe giving each name tag a different color for a group activity. It would help me with names and make it easier to facilitate activities on the first day.
