In an online course it is very easy to fall in to the trap of 'meeting students where they are.' I introduce the expectations of the course right away. I usually give an assignment to figure out who my procrastinators, noisy, and quiet people are. I learned this technic from my college English professor. The Professor gave all the students a daunting task to secure their seat in the class. We all were told to complete this assignment and return to class the next with it ready to go. Less than half the class returned. The Professor was able to weed out the procrastinator's. There were still a lot of noisy and quiet people but at least the class moved quickly. I don't go to that extreme and risk losing my population but I do give assignments to see how the students will react.
