Unit 3 Being an Online Instructor
B. Managing your Workload: Consider Using a Teaching Calendar
Consider creating a teaching calendar for yourself in order to both keep track of tasks you need to do at key times in your course as well as to help manage your time.
In creating a teaching calendar, determine:
-
- what you do (Instructional Activities)
- when you do it (Schedule)
- how long do you spend on it (Time allotment)
- how much time do you have available to teach your online course each week?
Prioritize instructional time based on the potential impact on student learning experiences (and this includes giving prompt, timely feedback/marking on assessments). And think about batching instructional tasks: focus instructional attention on one activity at a time rather than jumping between tasks.
Here’s an example of a 10 hour week:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Weekend | Total Time | ||
| Email, text | Check email & messages | 5 min | 5 min | 5 min | 5 min | 5 min | 5 min | 1 hr |
| Course administration | 10 min | |||||||
| Whole-class email outreach | 10 min | |||||||
| Chat, phone, videoconference | Individual outreach to students | 30 min | 30 min | 1 hr | ||||
| Content development | Integration of learning resources | 10 min | 10 min | 1 hr | ||||
| Personalize learning experience | 10 min | 10 min | ||||||
| Course announcements | 10 min | 10 min | ||||||
| Discussion facilitation | Discussion facilitation | 15 min | 15 min | 30 min | 30 min | 60 min | 30 min | 3 hrs |
| Grading and feedback | Feedback on student submissions | 60 min | 60 min | 60 min | 30 min | 4 hrs | ||
| Feedforward development | 30 min |
(Based on the work of Mandernach, B. (2020) How Can a Teaching Calendar Help Me Be More Effective and Efficient in the Online Classroom?. Magna Publications Inc.)
