QUESTION: I’ve heard from colleagues, “I hear that I missed a really great workshop about time management strategies for faculty who are teaching online. I know you can’t recreate an entire workshop in an e-mail message, but could you share a couple of big ideas from that workshop with me?”
ANSWER:
Thanks for sharing – it’s always wonderful to hear that faculty think we’re
providing them with information and tools for making their teaching time more productive!
Briefly, here are the five strategies that we discussed:
Strategy 1: Contact students BEFORE the first day of class with log in information, expectations, the syllabus, etc.
Strategy 2: Be clear about your expectations in your syllabus.
Strategy 3: Provide an orientation period/module.
Strategy 4: Use the Discussion Board to your advantage.
Strategy 5: Assess efficiently.
As far as the “big idea” from this workshop, it was that you need to be very clear about what your expectations are and communicate those expectations to your students early, often, and in multiple ways! For instructors of many online classes, some of the biggest challenges occur at the beginning of the semester, and so I recommend that you start there. Before the first day of class (a couple of weeks beforehand), send students a “welcome letter” – with instructions for how to access the course, your expected time commitment from them, dates for any exams, where to get help, etc. – and your syllabus and calendar. (I have checklists for these that I’m willing to share.)
At the beginning of the semester, build in a low-stakes orientation period for your course and use that time to have students “try out” all of the “tools” you might use in your class – I usually give students 10 extra credit points for completing all of the orientation activities, and though in the grand scheme of my course it is only one percent of the possible points, there’s something psychologically beneficial to having students start out ahead of the game. I recommend that this module include taking a quiz or survey (learn something useful about your students), sending an e-mail (perhaps with their personal goals for the course), posting an introduction (or other icebreaker activity or “muddiest point” about the course or syllabus) to the discussion board, submitting a small assignment (I use a “Computer Failure Contingency Plan,” and I’m willing to share), and watching/listening to or downloading any files that may require special software, viewers, or plug-ins. Getting students started off on the right foot (and getting their technology issues resolved BEFORE it’s vital) can significantly cut down on the amount of time it takes you later in the semester.
