Online students and time management problems…
Online Instructors:
What technique or method do you use for helping students who poorly manage their time management? Do you have any special way of getting them to use their time more efficiently? As they are at a distance, you need to continue communicating your advice, support and concerns, however I've found that once a student is aware of their time management issues, there's a better chance of helping them overcome them. Sometimes it's simply a matter of rethinking the time spent on classroom work!
For example, typical of many students, I had one – a single mother with two small children who worked from noon until 8:30PM. She would drop the kids off to school each morning and arranged for a family member to pick them up at 2PM to babysit them until she came home. After an exhausting day at work she had a list of chores that still needed to be done: tidying up her home, fixing something to eat, spending time with her children and finally seeing them off to bed. She had little time for schoolwork so was forced to rush through it every night and in return was not gaining the benefit of learning. Weekends were spent trying to catch up which doesn't help learning retention either.
Needless to say, she was unhappy, frustrated, and a bit angry at the situation. After some discussion with her I offered a possible solution. Since she was getting a good night's sleep each evening, I suggested that in the mornings, after she got her children ready and off to school, she should spend that quality time before going to work each day working on her schoolwork. Then the weekends would be far less stressful and quality work could be achieved over the weekend as well! Mixed with domestic chores it gave her the chance to "think" in different ways so that burnout was less likely.
In short– it worked! Instead of thinking of homework as an "evening job", for her doing it in the mornings was more logical– her grades went from a low "C" to a "B+" rather quickly!
That sounds like a very good idea. I don't really have the experience to speculate here. It sounds like this class required daily communication, or at least more so than the ones I have taught. very online class I have taught has been either twice a week or once a week. I lay my assignments out with a final due date and let them know that they can turn their work in at any point up to this time. I make the due dates in the evening as well, so they have a few extra hours. At this point, I have gotten a sufficient number of complaints about the difficulty of the work, but, in this system, time managment is rarely an issue. I will certainly keep your ideas in mind if I get a chance at a new course. Thanks!
The single parent issue comes up often with my students. For those with school-age kids, I encourage them to make homework time a family 'competition' or 'game'. They can egg each other on to do better, being an example for the kids and get study time in at the same time. This method has worked for many of my students and they love the added benefit of teaching their children good study habits by example.
