Planning Your Term
As you design your course, not only do you need to keep in mind the amount of time your students will spend in your online course, but you also need to consider the calendar. The best laid plans can be waylaid by forgetting a holiday, or forgetting to plan in time to get to know your students.
As you plan your online course and begin to segment your course into units, here's a few quick tips for planning your term.
5 Tips for Planning Time in Your Online Course
Getting Started
In your face-to-face course, you most likely spend the first day or two going over expectations, the syllabus, and getting to know one another, and yet many new online teachers forget to schedule in this important time. Save the first week for getting started!
Holidays
When first determining your schedule, don't forget the holidays! Online students (and teachers!) get time off, just like the on-campus students. Check out your campus calendar before you start planning your course calendar.
Tests
Reserve extra time for tests. In a face-to-face class, we devote an entire class to a test, and give students time to study. Allow the same "room" to study in your online class AND give students a window for taking the test. Many students work, and may not be able to take a test that is required on a specific day and time.
Consistency
Be consistent. Repeated patterns, consistent due dates and times, and a predictable rhythm help students keep track of their work, and allow them to plan their time better, too. Try to keep weekly workloads consistent, so students can plan their time wisely.
Approaching the Finish
Just as you saved time for a getting started period, be sure to schedule time for your final, including a "dead week" or study week so that students can do their best in your class and the rest of their courses, too!
Text presented from an infographic located in @One's "Introduction to Course Design" course shared under a CC Attribution license.