Using the Template for Managing Tasks and Prioritizing Time

 

As we noted in our previous postings, our “Being There for the Online Learner Model” and “Framework for Creating Presence” (Lehman & Conceição, 2010) were developed to help you understand that presence, which is “perceptual” in nature, is an important part of designing and delivering an online course. With this in mind, you are better able to bring the human aspect into your online course, make it a personal experience, and more effectively engage your students.

This week, we’re introducing our “Template for Managing Tasks and Prioritizing Time,” found in our book, Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success (Conceição & Lehman, 2011). This template helps you look at any type of course from a broad perspective and better manage your tasks and time.

• For new courses, the template can help you estimate the tasks you may do and the time you may spend during the design and delivery of the course. 
• For converting courses, the template can assist you in rethinking how you can teach your course in the new environment.
• For existing online courses, the template can help you revisit your tasks and your time spent to become more efficient and effective when teaching the same course again. 

 

Template for Managing Tasks and Prioritizing Time

 

Course Sequence	Type of Task	Week #	Time Spent
Before the course	Design
During and end of course	Administrative
	Facilitative
	Evaluative

 

Download the Template for Managing Tasks and Prioritizing Time.

 

In addition to the template, our book provides examples of how this template can be used in each of the three instances. It also suggests strategies that instructors can use to maintain their quality of life. Teaching online can be overwhelming if you let it control you. Managing workload and prioritizing time help put you “in control.”

 

References

Lehman, R. M. & Conceição, S. C. O. (2010). Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to “Be There” for Distance Learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

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

Template for Managing Tasks and Prioritizing Time

 

  

Our “Being There for the Online Learner Model” and “Framework for Creating Presence” were developed to help you understand that presence is “perceptual” in nature and is an important part of designing and delivering an online course. With this in mind, you are better able to bring the human aspect into your online course, make it personal experiences, and more effectively engage your learners.

 

Our “Template for Managing Tasks and Prioritizing Time” in our book, Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Finding Balance and Success (Conceição & Lehman, 2011) helps you look at your course from a broad perspective and is a valuable template to use when planning your course design and delivery. It can serve as a guide for managing and balancing workload when creating your new online course, converting a face-to-face course to the online environment, or revising a course already taught online.

For new courses, the template can help you estimate the tasks you may do and the time you may spend during the design and delivery of the course. For converting courses, the template can assist you in rethinking how you can teach your course in the new environment. For existing online courses, the template can help you revisit your tasks and your time spent to become more efficient and effective when teaching the same course again. Our book, Managing Online Instructor Workload: Strategies for Balance and Success (Conceição & Lehman, 2011) also provides examples on how this template can be used in each of the three instances.

Next week we’ll follow up with "Strategies for Balancing Online Instructor Workload."

References

Lehman, R. M. & Conceição, S. C. O. (2010). Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching: How to “Be There” for Distance Learners. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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

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.