One possible technique that invites students to be part of the class (even though they are distant) is to have them interview each other in a Chat room and then post each other's biography. Students should be paired up (Jim interview Jenny, Jenny interview Jim) and in addition to establishing the typical biographical information, students could also ask 1-3 specific questions to enhance the introductions. (One of my favorite open-ended questions in class intros is, "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" Students could be ) Once the interview has taken place, students post their fellow student's data to the Bio forum. Of course, this technique requires that students connect in real-time via phone or chat - which is not always convenient or available. Course design and technology play an important role here, but the attempt to bring students together across the distance - so they are perceived as "people" and not "objects" to each other - is an effective goal.