Using a Template to Preplan for Managing Tasks and Prioritizing Time

 

By using a template to manage workload for online instruction you can preplan your design and delivery responsibilities and tasks.

First, you'll need to become familiar with the online course design components that will help to make the virtual seem "real" for your students. Because these components are tangible they can be converted into tasks and time.

Our "Template for Managing Tasks and PrioritizingTime," contained in our book Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success can serve as a guide for workload and time spent when creating your online course of any kind:

1.    a new course

2.    conversion of a face-to-face course to online course

3.    revision of a course you've already taught online

The template will guide you in identifying and laying out each course sequence, the type of tasks within each sequence, the period during the course when each sequence takes place, and the estimated time spent on each task. 

For new online courses, the template can help you estimate tasks and time spent during the course design and delivery.

For a converted course, the template can help with the process of rethinking how to teach the course in the new environment.

For existing online courses, the template can help you revisit tasks and time spent and become more efficient when teaching the same course again. We hope you enjoy using the template!

References

Conceição, S. C., & Lehman, R. M. (2011). Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success. Jossey-Bass. 

Types of Course Tasks and Using a Design Framework

 

Becoming aware of the tasks that instructors need to accomplish when teaching online is the critical first step in designing an online course. In doing this, instructors can better plan, prioritize, and manage their course workload. The course tasks that we’ve identified in our book, Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success can be grouped into four types:

1.    Design

2.    Administrative

3.    Facilitative

4.    Evaluative

Once the tasks are identified, we suggest you use an instructional design process for a systematic approach. Using this process, you will be able to take into consideration the multi-faceted components of your course and create a blueprint for the teaching and learning experience.

The next step is to select a model or framework for developing your course. The framework we’ve developed, “Framework for Designing Online Courses With a Sense of Presence,” can assist you in identifying the multiple components of your online course, planning and designing prior to course delivery, managing the instructional process to ensure the desired learning outcomes, and integrating a “sense of presence.” When you've completed this, we suggest using a template to help you manage your tasks and prioritize your time. 

References

Conceição, S. C., & Lehman, R. M. (2011). Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success. Jossey-Bass. 

Instructors’ Stories Reveal Strategies

 

Through instructors’ stories we found concrete examples of strategies for balancing workload that can fit a wide variety of settings and apply to many different contexts. You can find them in our book Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success.

You may identify with some of these stories, but many will be new to you. While some of the instructors in our examples are prioritizing their time in an efficient way, others are still discovering new ways to effectively manage their workload.

Next week, we’ll look at how to determine the types of course tasks for online teaching and how they can be accomplished within a design framework. For your online course, designing requires planning, intention, and design and an understanding of the online environment. By looking at workload from a design perspective, instructors can better manage and prioritize their time.

References

Conceição, S. C., & Lehman, R. M. (2011). Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success. Jossey-Bass. 

New Thinking and Creative Strategies Help Online Instructors Manage Workload

 

Close your eyes and imagine the differences between the face-to-face and online environments. In the face-to-face environment, you can see your learners, hear their voices, and touch concrete objects. You can easily move among your learners, have eye-contact, feel a very personal sense of closeness, hear voice nuance, read body language, and demonstrate concepts. However, in the online environment everything is very elusive. You must think much more carefully about how you can relate to and engage your learners, create a sense of closeness, and describe your actions. In this environment, preplanning, intentional design, explicit instructions, and creating a sense of presence become essential.

Planning, intentional design, creating explicit instructions, and creating presence require time, energy, and creativity and can influence instructor workload. Workload is determined by

• the course discipline
• the course format
• interactive strategies
• the instructor role
• technologies
• support

 

For the Determinants of Presence, see our book, Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching.

The issue for instructors is to understand and think about what makes the online environment different. The challenge is to think with a new mindset about designing and delivering instruction, developing instructional strategies that work in the online environment, and creating a sense of presence that will make the virtual environment feel more real and personal. At the same time, instructors need to be mindful of workload. This is a challenge, but it can be realized.

 

References

 

Conceição, S. C., & Lehman, R. M. (2011). Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success. Jossey-Bass. 

Lehman, R. M. & Conceição, S. C. O. (2011). Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Implications for the Increasing Demands for Higher Education Online Courses

 

Increasing demands for higher education online courses have implications for educational institutions and instructor course design, teaching, and workload. From the institutional perspective a shift to systems thinking is required – looking at how change involves all parts of the organization and how the parts influence one another within a whole. When traditional higher education institutions consider including online education in their offerings, they should:

 

• address institutional and instructional issues and challenges
• ensure that the same type of services provided for traditional face-to-face programs be adapted for the online environment (such as student services, technology support, instructor support, and so on)
• look closely at the impact on instructor teaching and workload. Both institutional and instructional issues need to be considered and the challenges they present addressed.  

 

As more instructors move their courses online, they will be rethinking their courses, using new technologies, adapting course design, and modifying teaching strategies.

 

What will the impact be on their time and the management of their workload? If institutions are aware of these issues and appeal to instructors with understanding and extrinsic motivators (such as policy change, instructor support, incentives, and rewards), institutions can begin to meet the online challenges. Since higher education institutions benefit from the rewards of online courses, it is crucial that they also realize the impact on their instructors.

 

Reference

 

Conceição, S. C., & Lehman, R. M. (2011). Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success. Jossey-Bass.