The importance of the welcome
So that the learners feel at ease and get to know you and the people they are working with (in particular if you are planning on doing group work) you should do some 'ice-breaker' exercises to help with this.
Click on this link to get some ideas /suggestions
https://symondsresearch.com/icebreakers-for-online-teaching/
From the start of the course, explain to the learners what they will be learning but also tell them how the course is organised. This is all the more important in distance-learning modules since there is no direct face-to face exchange with the teacher. Think about a discussion space available to them where they can exchange ideas among themselves and with you. This is why you are advised to open up a space (forum, Whatsapp group ...).
The course objectives must also be clearly and explicitly shared with the learners in order to give them a direction, to give them information about the skills that they will develop by following your course (we will come back to this in the next class). All this will help facilitate the learning process.
This welcome stage (although different from that on the first day) is indispensable for each new course. This way you can set out the framework of each session.