5/14/2014

The Guilt of Online Learning



First, I feel the need to attempt to dispel the idealization of online learning.  

This is NOT what online learning looks like:


This is what online learning looks like:
 



These latter images, though they wouldn’t encourage students towards online coursework, would at least offer learners more authentic insight into what level of time management they’re in for with this kind of learning experience. (Anyway, who really takes a laptop to the beach?) 

There are tons of sites on how to manage time, and several offer suggestions specifically for online classes.  And of course, it’s pretty clear that if you manage your time well, you’ll be more successful at most things in life, but especially with online learning.

However, if that’s the case, then why do learners, even older adult learners, even professional learners who already have degrees, struggle with time management? If it is just a matter of knowing what to do and how to do it, then everyone should be posting his or her initial discussion posts by the deadline and completing modules in time. 

But that’s not what happens. 

I humbly suggest that adult online learners struggle with time management because they de-prioritize their online courses out of some sort of guilt. Something else comes along that they feel more obligated to do or more guilty about not doing. And the prioritization of things, by virtue of how obligated we feel to do them, is a huge part of time management.    

At least half of the learners in an online class, (particularly those who are also working full-time) will start scrambling somewhere midcourse. They’ll submit things at the last minute or fall behind a module or so and have to double-time it to the end of the course. Of course, this hastiness impedes their learning. Oh, they’ll get it done, but with extreme stress and without the depth of learning that will really help them out.
The very thing that makes online learning so attractive—its inherent time flexibility—is also the one thing getting in the way for these learners. Flexibility, guilt, and an inability to prioritize well is a time-management disaster waiting to happen. 

Further compounding the issue is that one of the primary strategies for successfully completing an online course is to set aside time to do it

Yeah, right.

IF we had time to set aside, we would probably have taken the face-to-face course in the first place.   Those of us taking online courses are (for the most part) working full-time and dealing with families. We don’t have the time to set aside time. If we had the time to set aside time, we’d set aside the time. 

And thinking that we can work on the course late at night or on weekends doesn’t make it any easier. If anything, things get more complicated. Late at night, we’re tired. Weekends, we’re busy. 

If anything, we actually tend to do better with the inflexibility of a scheduled class time (MWF 6pm-8pm).  Potentially, we do better because we’re able to say, “I can’t (go to the store, go to dinner, etc.) because I have class.” Others understand that, and we are able to justify prioritizing the class. We don’t feel guilty about it. It’s as though the authority of the schedule makes the difference.

What’s trickier is telling people, “I can’t (go to the beach, pick you up at the airport, etc.) because I have to do some work in my online course, today.” That’s where part of the guilt comes in because we know we can always do our online course “any time.”   

How can we say no?  

To say that online learning requires time management skills is an understatement. Underneath, you must have a backbone of steel that's impervious to guilt and manipulation. You have to be your own authority. Only then can you prioritize and set aside the necessary time. 

It ain’t easy.

 
  

9 comments:

  1. You know Mindy, I've gone through almost the entire time management module from five star learning (and loved it), but your blog has made me feel so much better about where I stand in time management! I had gotten to the point where I was feeling pretty lousy about my time management skills, but then I read this and remembered that I really AM good at it. Probably because seven years as a stay at home mom/nap-time writer has taught me the importance of making my time a priority. I've learned that sometimes telling others, "no, I'm sorry, I can't help you right now" isn't just good for me, it's good for them too. Helping the interrupter after I've finished my work allows me to completely focus on both my work AND the interrupter instead of splitting my attention between the two.
    I am SO GLAD that I read your blog post and I thank you so very much for sharing it!

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    1. What a great point, Tamara: Saying "I can't help you right now" isn't just good for me, it's good for them, too. I'm seeing this as a t-shirt or something! Good stuff! =D

      I'm glad the blog post helped you out, too!

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  2. "The very thing that makes online learning so attractive—its inherent time flexibility—is also the one thing getting in the way for these learners. Flexibility, guilt, and an inability to prioritize well is a time-management disaster waiting to happen." time flexibility and location is the sales pitch!!!!! lol

    Okay, so you identified me rather easy!!! If I had time to set aside time, I would set aside some time from the time I had to set aside in the first place...love it.......wow...who is on 1st, what is on 2nd...great stuff. I am going to really try to be that "own authority" with this time management stuff. I handle things in advance, but juggle too much at times. Started a Moodle class last year, didn't finish....guess why????? didn't have "make" enough time for it. Thanks for the thoughts. - Don

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  3. It helps to know that I'm in a common situation with others of struggling with the feeling of being pulled in many directions at one time. Being firm and consistent with a schedule/time management always is the best bet, though like a diet, it's tough to stick with.

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  4. There are so many great points here, where do you start? The idea of feeling guilty is at the forefront for me. I feel as though I work hard all week and give so much of myself to my students at school that the weekends should be mine to do as I want. I want to spend that time with my family (watching a movie with my wife, playing ball with my son or talking with my daughter) and I feel like I am putting them off if I work on a class. It's a tough line to draw.

    This is amplified by one of the other points in this post, which is the idea that we can always put our online learning off until later. If I can work on my class later, then there is nothing stopping me from giving the time now to my family. That is, until "later" arrives and you find yourself feeling guilty that you've ignored your online class for an unacceptable amount of time. It's a true catch-22 if ever there was one.

    The information and practices on time management have to be utilized if online learners are to be successful. The thoughts and tips provided throughout this course and in this post are excellent examples of the types of practices online learners need to employ. Thanks for the tips and thanks for the help!

    Good luck to all!

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    1. Yes, and we have a joyful responsibility to teach to and minister to our families first. What helps me is prioritizing time when my daughter is sleeping or otherwise engaged in an activity. I have to chose to use that time to work on my on line course. The downside is that I am not useing that time for other activities, so right now, for this moment in my life, I am not mending clothes, doing art, or other fun and sometimes needful things because the class is ranking higher on my list of important.

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  5. Yes! The "putting them off" feeling is exactly what gets in the way, but you have to wonder. What would you say to your daughter or son if either were taking on an online class? How would you help them prioritize, and why wouldn't you do the same? Hmm. That leads to a responsibility thing. What, ultimately, is our responsibility, and does that responsibility ever shift?

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  6. Yes! When you said; "[Y]ou must have a backbone of steel that's impervious to guilt and manipulation. You have to be your own authority. Only then can you prioritize and set aside the necessary time," that really applies to me. I have a hard time with that because of years of usually putting everyone else's needs first, and not being my own authority. I am still a bit afraid of how others will respond if I say that I can not do something now and stick by that. I am afraid other people may feel that since it is an online class, they can make demands on me now and I should just magically find time to get to my online course sometime later because after all, they have a demand now, and they are a living person, not a computer. By contrast, if I viewed this as I viewed my other college classes, then it would rank higher on the urgent category, and as a result, I would block out more time and not allow delays.

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  7. I tend to give myself deadlines that come before actual deadlines...so earlier this week while working on an online course it was gratifying to here my son tell someone that I had to finish what I was working on. My self imposed deadline is to complete my summer professional development before our family vacation precisely so I can escape work. And that I think is what we all need to do more. I find that after a good trip my mind as well as my body is reinvigorated. So now I make time in order to enjoy time later.

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