ABSTRACT

We are accustomed to structuring the time in our ordinary classrooms: ten minutes for introducing the topic, twenty minutes for discussion, ten minutes for in class exercise, etc. Structuring time in an on-line setting is similar, but the intervals are days rather than minutes. Students need hard deadlines for completing every assignment. “By 9:00 PM every Sunday during the course, you will post your summaries of the research your group assigned to you on the discussion board.” “Your reaction essays on each of the articles must be posted by 12:00 noon every Thursday.” This kind of specificity then allows you to build communication between the students, in the case of collaborative learning, or between the student and you. Your time, too, becomes easier to manage. Effective time structuring also increases the student’s ability to organize their time, permitting them to devote more time on task. This, in turn, improves the rigor of the course experience for them. In a hybrid course I have been teaching for many years, there are three specific deadlines every week: a Sunday evening deadline, a Wednesday class time deadline and a Thursday evening deadline. The deadlines establish a rhythm for the students that affects every other class they are taking that term.