Question+5+Managing+time


 * __Managing your time and staying organized__ **

Findings indicate that managing hybrid courses forced instructors and students to become “more organized” and “prepared” than they had to be in a traditional course. The hybrid environment also added additional scheduling challenges as courses meet both online and faceto-face. Although both faculty and students enjoyed the “flexibility” and the increased “personal contact,” navigating these dual-learning spaces did cause some challenges and confusion. As one instructor said, it can be hard “to keep straight” when the class is meeting in person or online. To create one seamless course, the hybrid instructor’s role needs to expand to include unique scheduling and organizational tasks (Sands, 2002). The following are the major faculty and student benefits and challenges of the managerial role as shared by the research participants; they involve course scheduling, course organization, and student time management.

Course Scheduling

A major decision for faculty was the frequency and pattern of scheduling for face-to-face and virtual activities. Some faculty still met with their students weekly, while others only met face-to-face a few times in a semester. When asked how they decided when to meet as a class, reasons varied, including “it depended on the content,” the need to schedule around other obligations and courses, and a desire to give students an opportunity to work on a project online between classes. The frequency and pattern of course meetings varied greatly for the study participants. For some instructors, the class meeting schedule “was different every week” while others convened on a regular schedule every week equaling half of the original course time.

While both faculty and students appreciated not having to meet in person as often, many instructors commented that it was often difficult to manage the online workload. Comments included “there is so much to read” and “it was difficult for me everyday to get online because of my busy schedule.” Faculty explained that it is important to set aside time to focus on the online components. One instructor explained, “It is a matter of self-discipline, to sit down and just read it or do it or set a time block aside where I am going to read posts and be committed to it.” Despite these initial challenges, as instructors gained more experience, these scheduling issues diminished over the semester.

Student Time Management

Student benefits and challenges mirrored those of the faculty. Several instructors noted that hybrid offers “flexibility for over-burdened students” and for those with family and job responsibilities. However, like faculty, students had more difficulty committing time to online work than they did for “those 50 minutes in class.” Some students viewed only the face-to-face portions as the real class, and “ignore the responsibility of doing all the other work.” One instructor noted that students “have twice as many opportunities to miss an assignment” because they are responsible for both in-class and online activities. “They [students] have a lot of things to keep track of.” Others put a positive spin on this challenge and felt that the hybrid format should go beyond teaching students content to teaching “important life skills” of time management, self-discipline, and organization. One instructor said, “A challenge and benefit for students is that they needed to learn to better manage their time.” Instructors said it is important to clarify that it is the student’s responsibility to “check the course page” for weekly announcements and assignments.

In addition to helping students better manage their time, instructors noted how working online also made the face-to-face time “more serious and more valuable.” One instructor noted how prepared students were for the face-to-face class after participating online: “When they came into class on Tuesday nights, they were really focused…. I think it [the hybrid format] made that time more productive.” Scheduling flexibility and time management were the benefits as well as the challenges for students.


 * 5.) Many students enroll in blended courses because of the flexibility associated with time shifting. At the same time, they may overbook their schedules or not allocate time for studying. What strategies did students employ to balance their schedules and manage their in- and out-of-class time effectively? What effective instructional strategies can one employ to help students stay on track? Are there any additional strategies one could implement the next time the course is delivered to help students stay organized, assessed student readiness, and manage student expectations? **


 * Course scheduling: **