Pandemic Tip 2: Create a weekly schedule (and stick to it relentlessly)

Image by Pexels from Pixabay 

Some folks may be wondering what a typical weekly schedule looks like in an asynchronous online course. This is the "Welcome to the Course" message for an 8-week managerial communication course for grad students. Adjust the amount of work as needed for undergrads.

The discussions usually (1) reflect on personal experience and explain how it applies/defies the concepts in the textbook and (2) compose a little something or locate and analyze a document to show that students can apply the concepts from the textbook.

Above all, remember that your students did not opt in to an online course, either. Make things as easy as possible while maintaining a focus on your course learning outcomes.

Here is what my students receive at the beginning of the course:

Our class week runs from Monday to 6:00 pm on Saturday. I know many of you work in addition to your studies, so this schedule should give you time to complete your work and have at least one day each weekend to relax and be with your friends and family. (If you wish to use your Sunday to work on the course anyway, go ahead. The materials will be available.)

The normal weekly schedule will involve the following activities:

• A weekly announcement. Located in D2L Content, this announcement will guide you through the work that needs to be done that week, share the status of grading for the various activities, and answer questions that may have been asked.
• A "muddiest point" poll. Starting in week 2, this anonymous poll gives you a chance to let me know if there is something you didn't understand in the previous week(s).
• Required reading of 1-3 chapters. The textbook provides the theory that will help you understand best practices of professional communication.
• 1-3 audio or video lectures. My lectures explain some of the concepts, provide examples, or share my own experiences, but they do not replace the readings. The videos are typically 10-20 minutes long.
• 2 weekly discussion threads. I will post prompts for all students to discuss. At the time of this message, 18 students are enrolled in the course. That is a large writing/communication class, so I may divide you into two groups to make the threads easier to follow. To simulate IRL conversations, participation in the weekly discussions involves two parts:
• Your responses to my prompts must be posted no later than 6:00 PM CST on Thursdays.
• Your feedback on your classmates' responses must be posted between Thursday evening and 6:00 pm CST on Saturday.

There will also be two assignments that require you to apply what you have learned to some workplace scenarios. More information will be available in D2L Brightspace.

Once class gets started, I send this reminder:

Remember the cycle I described in the Start Here module:

• Read a bit (Monday and Tuesday)
• Think a bit (Wednesday)
• Write a bit (Thursday)
• Discuss a bit (Friday and Saturday)
• Rest for a bit (Sunday)
• Start over again...