Time Skills
Managing Time and the Course Calendar

Your online classroom is open 24 hours a day 7 days of the week. Entry is possible wherever you have access to the World Wide Web. The convenience is both online learning's greatest asset and its greatest curse. Communication is the first essential ingredient, organization is the second. You will need to master two important elements.
 
The Course Calendar

  • The Course Calendar is one of the primary scheduling tools for the online classroom. 
  • Locate the calendar component of your course pages quickly and refer to it often.
  • Print out the calendar. Keep it available near your computer or in your course notebook.
  • Remember: Online courses are NOT self-paced. You must meet all assignment, discussion,and exam deadlines. 
  • The course calendar is your best friend for insuring that you do not miss important deadlines.
  • Check the online calendar frequently to see if your instructor has added any communication since you printed out your copy. 
  • There are two calendar features for students taking courses formatted in BbV. One view shows the regular monthly calendar and the other provides a full text list by date of the calendar details. Decide which view works best for you and consult it frequently.
  • When using Blackboard Vista (BbV) your "My Blackboard " page will list alerts of an upcoming exam or assignment. 
Time Management 

Students who choose to take courses online generally do so in order to better manage their own schedules. Time Managment skills are essential to achieving success in the online classroom.
 
  • 60 seconds in a minute, 
  • 60 minutes in an hour, 
  • 24 hours in a day, 
  • and 168 hours in a week. 
  • 2688 hours a 16 week semester 
  • Time cannot be saved or stored.
  • It is not how much we have, but, rather 
  • the way we use it.
  • The bottom line is how well we use it

  • Time Management is more than just managing our time; it is managing ourselves in relation to time. It is setting priorities and taking charge of your situation and time utilization. It means changing those habits or activities that cause us to waste time. It is being willing to experiment with different methods and ideas to enable you to find the best way to make maximum use of time.  
  • ESSENTIALLY, EVERYTHING WE DO REQUIRES TIME.
  • SOME EVENTS/ACTIVITIES ARE EXTERNALLY CONTROLLED: meetings, family obligations, work duties. 
  • OTHER ACTIVITIES ARE INTERNALLY CONTROLLED: chatting on the phone, commitment to a club or project, or just "messing around." 
  • ARE YOU ASSUMING RESPONSIBILITY FOR MANAGING YOUR MOST VALUABLE COMMODITY, TIME? 
  • Reflect on each of these essentials to insure that you understand the challenges of managing time. 
    • Do not create impossible situations. 
      • Attempting to work a full 40-hour week and take a full academic load (12 hours) is an impossible situation. Do not assume because your courses are all on the Internet they at will be easier to manage.
      • Online courses generally require more time than on-campus (the time you save getting to and from class and the hour+ in class is now spent on the computer in addition to the normal study, participate in online discussions, write papers, take exams routine)
      • Review your outside obligations.
      • Examine each of these realistically as you prepare your new semester schedule. 
    • Define your priorities. 
      • All successful time management begins with planning. 
      • Use a weekly calendar (available in your online course materials) and a daily "To Do" list. 
      • Write down all of the things you want to accomplish each day, including personal activities such as phone calls and shopping. 
      • This list is a reminder. 
      • Use it to set daily priorities — what must be done today? What can wait? Write a new list each morning. 
      • Use it to visualize what you must do in that new day, providing focus to your day's activities. 
    • Avoid distractions and lack of focus. 
      • Identify areas of wasteful use of time. 
      • Do you put off doing important tasks? 
      • That is called procrastination. 
      • There is a complete procrastination segment available on this web site on suggestions to rein that wasteful habit in. 
    • Are you overwhelmed by the current crisis or imminent deadline? 
      • Crises management, or lack of, leaves no time for routine matters or for enjoyment of the simpler things in life. 
      • Are you plagued by lack of concentration and focus? 
    • Floundering could be offset by creating daily "To Do" lists and lists of weekly, monthly and long-term goals. 
      • What about emotional blocks that interfere with academic success? 
      • These include boredom, daydreaming, stress, guilt, anger and frustration — all reduce concentration in the classroom. 
    • Stress can lead to sickness that will definitely blow your schedule apart. 
      • Stay physically fit. Yes, you can schedule good quality time for exercising and not feel guilty, knowing that it will keep you healthy in the long run.
      • Exercise is the best known way of reducing anxiety-producing stress. Other major distractions include: the telephone, television and friends. 




 

 

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Please send any questions or comments to Carol A. Keller, email, ckeller@alamo.edu
Last update August, 2009

The development of this website is made possible by an ACCD Instructional Innovation Grant for Spring/Summer 2002.
© 2002 Carol A. Keller and the San Antonio College History Department. All rights reserved.