If the course is accredited, you need to keep backed up records of all emails, homepages, and other records.

You can send out  interlinks by email, but a class homepage might be better :

• It can make it easier to provide information.
• It could also be a focal point to create a sense of community, so why not get students to post a personal photo a a few details?

Developing a sense of community is easiest if people can meet physically from time to time. (Distance education normally has very high dropout rates. Up to 50% is quite normal.)