Often students are keen to get going when they sign up, but there may be a time lag between registering and the start date. This can be a great time to get students engaged with the reading list or preparatory material. Think about whether you want them to have access to all the readings for the module, or a specific reading. Do you want to focus their attention by suggesting an opening task? Or do you prefer to let them engage with what they want, exploring in their own way for a while? Suggestions for areas of reflection can be very helpful in focussing the students. Without this they can feel lost.

Example: Jenny wanted the reading list for her module so she could start skim reading before the course started. The administrators had felt this might give Jenny an unfair advantage over her peers. The reading list was converted to Talis,[1] and the link sent to all students in their welcome email. This also gave students the chance to check they could access the reading list. There were clear instructions given for a support contact if they had any problems.