Step 5: Engage your community

In this article: Set up discussions, live meetings, and scheduled messages so students stay active and connected throughout your course.

All Plans

Students who interact with each other and with you are far more likely to finish your course and get results. The good news: you don't need to build an elaborate community from Day 1. A single discussion prompt or a short live Q&A session can shift a course from "content I'll get to eventually" to "a group I show up for."

Ruzuku gives you four engagement tools. This guide covers each one with enough detail to get started, then helps you pick the right combination for your course.

Add discussion prompts to your lessons

Discussion prompts appear at the bottom of individual lessons. They're the simplest engagement tool because students encounter them naturally as they work through your content.

To add one:

Open a lesson in the editor.
Scroll to the bottom and click Discussions on the dark grey bar.
Type a short prompt and optional description.
Use the toggle to require a response from students, if you want.

Students can respond with text, images, documents, and video. Their responses are visible to everyone in the course, so the conversation builds over time.

What makes a good prompt:

Invite action, not summary. "Share one photo you took this week using the rule of thirds" works better than "What did you learn in this lesson?"
Lower the bar. "Post your first rough draft — no polish needed" gets more responses than asking for finished work.
Create peer connection. "Reply to one other person's post with a specific thing you noticed" turns a solo activity into a conversation.

Tip: You don't need a discussion prompt on every lesson. Put them on the lessons where reflection or sharing would genuinely help students learn. Two or three well-placed prompts per module is a good starting point.

Create course-wide discussion forums

Discussion prompts live inside specific lessons. Course-wide forums are separate spaces for conversations that don't belong to any one lesson.

To create a forum:

Go to Manage Course → Discussion Categories.
Click Create a Category.
Name it and save.

You can create as many categories as you need. Students access forums from the course navigation.

A few categories that work well:

Introductions — students introduce themselves when they join. Helps people feel like part of a group from the start.
General Q&A — a catch-all for questions that don't fit neatly into one lesson.
Wins and progress — a place to share results and celebrate milestones.

Tip: Start with one or two forums. A single active forum is better than five quiet ones. You can always add more as the conversation grows.

Schedule live meetings

Live sessions add a personal connection that recorded content can't replicate. Even a short, informal call makes students feel supported.

To schedule a meeting:

Go to Manage Course → Meetings.
Click Create a Meeting (or Create your first meeting if this is your first one).
Give it a title, set the date, time, and duration.
Choose your meeting type.
Click Create Meeting at the bottom.

Ruzuku sends automatic reminders to enrolled students (24 hours and 1 hour before, by default). You can customize the reminder timing and content.

Meeting types

Video Conference — Built-in video where everyone can share their camera and audio. Supports up to 60 participants. Good for small group coaching, workshops, and interactive Q&A. Recordings are automatic by default.

Presentation — Built-in video where only you share your camera and audio. Supports up to 250 participants. Good for webinars and lectures. Also auto-records by default.

Zoom — Connect your Zoom account and schedule Zoom meetings from inside Ruzuku. Set up the integration once in your account settings, then choose Zoom as the meeting type. Ruzuku generates the link and shares it with students. Zoom recordings upload to the course automatically after the meeting ends.

External — Use any other video tool (Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, etc.). You paste in the meeting URL and Ruzuku shares it with students.

In-Person — For physical meetups or workshops. You provide the location details and Ruzuku handles scheduling and reminders.

For Video Conference and Presentation meetings, you can also upload slides (PDF format works best) that display automatically when the meeting starts. A Preview button lets you test the meeting room before your students arrive.

Tip: Set the meeting duration a bit longer than you expect to need. For built-in meetings that auto-record, the duration controls how long the recording runs.

Send scheduled messages

Scheduled messages are course-wide emails that go out to all enrolled students at a time you choose. They show up in students' inboxes from your name, so they read like a personal note from their instructor.

To schedule a message:

Go to Manage Course → Messages.
Click Create a New Message.
Write your subject line and email body.
Set the send date and time.
Click Schedule Message.

For courses with Calendar-Based Release Dates, you schedule messages on specific calendar dates. For Individual Release Dates, you schedule them relative to when each student enrolled (for example, "Day 7" sends one week after signup).

Good uses for scheduled messages:

Weekly overview — "Here's what we're covering this week and where to focus your time."
Content teaser — "Module 3 opens Monday. Here's a preview of what's ahead."
Midpoint check-in — "You're halfway through. Here's what students who finish say about the experience."
Encouragement — a short note that says you're paying attention and rooting for them.

Tip: Draft 3-4 scheduled messages when you first set up your course. This creates a sense of ongoing presence even during weeks when you're busy with other things.

Pick your starting point

You don't need all four tools on Day 1. Here's what to set up based on your course format:

Self-paced course (Full Access): Start with discussion prompts on 2-3 key lessons per module. Add one course-wide forum for general Q&A. Schedule a welcome message for Day 1 and a check-in for the midpoint.

Cohort course (Calendar-Based or Individual Release): Everything above, plus: schedule a live meeting (Video Conference or Zoom) for the first week. A 30-minute Q&A session where students can ask questions and see each other's faces sets the tone for the whole program. Add a scheduled message each time a new module opens.

Workshop or short course (under 2 weeks): Keep it simple. One discussion prompt per lesson and one live session. Skip course-wide forums unless you have 20+ students. A welcome message and a "final day" wrap-up message are enough.

If you're unsure, start with discussion prompts. They take 30 seconds each to create, they require no scheduling, and they immediately make your course feel interactive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to use all of these engagement tools?

No. Start with one or two that match your teaching style. Discussion prompts on lessons are the easiest place to begin because students encounter them naturally. Add live meetings and forums as your course grows.

Can students see each other's discussion responses?

Yes. Both lesson-level discussion prompts and course-wide forums are visible to all enrolled students. Students can reply to each other, share images and files, and build on each other's ideas. If you need private submissions (for graded work, portfolios, or sensitive topics), use Assessments instead. You review those under Manage Course → Review Assessments.

How many students can join a live meeting?

Built-in Video Conference meetings support up to 60 participants. Presentation meetings support up to 250. Zoom meetings follow your Zoom plan's participant limits. External meetings depend on the tool you use.

Can I record live meetings and share them with students who missed it?

Built-in Video Conference and Presentation meetings auto-record by default. The recording uploads to the meeting page and students can watch it afterward (you can also allow downloads). Zoom recordings upload automatically after the meeting ends, as long as you record in Zoom. For External meetings, you'll need to handle recording and uploading separately.

You've completed the Getting Started guide. Your course has content, payments, a sales page, enrolled students, and engagement tools in place. That's everything you need to run a successful course on Ruzuku.

For deeper detail on any of these topics, explore the full reference sections: