Getting to know students (and having students getting to know each other) is an important aspect of learning. For most, learning is a social process that is often enhanced by interactions with instructors and peers. Whether a course is face-to-face, online and asynchronous, or some other format, building a sense of community is important. With that said, traditional "icebreakers" don't always accomplish this goal and in fact, can create more barriers and discomfort for students. Traditional Icebreakers require spontaneous and quick disclosure and many times feel like forced, inauthentic conversation. This can make some groups feel uncomfortable (e.g., introverts and neurodivergent students). Sharing a "fun fact" about yourself may make students uncomfortable sharing personal information (especially early in the course), create competition between students, and fuel imposter syndrome. Non-native English speakers may also struggle with quick thinking oral responses.
Here are a few suggestions for more inclusive icebreaker activities for building community:
Picture slideshow - Have all participants submit a meaningful photo and create a slideshow that either loops, or could turn into a guessing game. Alternative - have each person bring a meaningful photo and explain why it’s meaningful to them.
Live Polling - PollEverywhere, Slido, Mentimeter allows students to provide insights in a more anonymous way, feeling less threatening
Think-Pair-Share - Start individual, pair up and share thoughts, and then share with the large group
Human Bingo - have several facts on a card and then walk around the room and find others who can sign the card
Games - Trivia, Catch Phrase, Charades, speed puzzles, “escape rooms” encourage teamwork and more natural conversation
Small groups - everyone in the group needs to find one thing in common (bonus - this could be a team name for one of the games above!)
AI generated story - Use ChatGPT or another AI tool to generate a story that includes all group members. Keep refining the prompt until it writes a fairly accurate representation of each person. This encourages more natural conversation and many times, creates a few laughs among the group members as you refine the prompts.
Superficial topics - share a dull fact about yourself (lessens the pressure of competition), best state debate, least favorite movie/tv show/book (bonus if done as think-pair-share).
“Fun” Facts Guessing Game - give everyone a few minutes to write a fun fact, collect all of tthem, and then read each and have everyone guess which fact belongs to whom. More
inclusive alternative to “share a fun fact about yourself” orally in front of a group.
Four Corners - One choice for each corner of the room, everyone walks to their choice. Discover commonalities without necessarily forcing conversation.
Planning ahead - before a meeting or a class, present students with 5 traditional “icebreaker” type questions. Allow them to choose 2 and bring their answers with them. This gives time to prepare.
Visuals - use visual tools (like napkin.ai or Canva) to draw to create a personal mindmap about yourself. This can be shared with others.
Hopefully, as the semester goes on, students become more comfortable with each other and you can start to integrate more of the traditional "icebreaker" type activities.