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USU Online Teaching Excellence · Online with USU

• 0:00
  DAN ALLRED: Convenience is one of the most overused words in online education. Today, we're going to break down what it really means, and whether online learning will really be convenient for you. So settle in and let's talk. I'm your host, Dan Allred, and welcome to Online with USU, where education meets real life, so you can build what's next.
• 0:16
  [MUSIC PLAYING]
• 0:33
  Convenience can mean different things to different people. Before we get far into this episode, let's establish our definition so we're all on the same page. The Oxford language dictionary defines convenience as the state of being able to proceed with something with little or no difficulty. This isn't to say that it won't be difficult to earn your degree, but the format that you do your education in shouldn't add to that difficulty.
• 0:55
  When we talk about convenience and online learning, we mean how easily students can fit school into their lives, like being able to access classes, lectures, assignments, being able to do the things that you need to for your classes, anywhere and at any time. Basically, convenience and online learning is about removing barriers. So instead of rearranging your whole life for class, your class fits into your life.
• 1:17
  One of the first things to think about convenience is timing. When do things start? When do things stop? For here at Utah State University, our online classes follow our standard semester schedule, meaning they have the same start and stop times as our regular in-person classes. For fall semesters, classes start on the last Monday of August and run until about the middle of December. Our spring semester starts in January, usually the Monday after New Year's, and run through the very end of April, while our summer classes start the second week of May and run through the first part of August.
• 1:47
  In each of these semesters, we offer two types of classes, classes that run the standard full semester, which is 14 to 15 weeks, as well as classes that run half the semester or seven weeks. For classes that run the first seven weeks, they of course, start with all the other classes. For classes to start the second seven weeks that allows students that aren't able to attend at the very beginning of the semester to oftentimes pick up classes in the second half, so they don't have to wait for the next semester.
• 2:11
  It is important to note that not all classes are available in a seven-week session, so that may be a consideration depending on what program you're going into. As far as studying for classes goes, this will be determined by you. Study pace and methods are entirely individualized, which is one of the great conveniences of online.
• 2:26
  Class schedules are shown when you register for classes. So when you go to choose your classes, you'll be able to see whether they're offered in the full semester or half semester format. Before we talk more about convenience, we have to make sure we mention motivation. Motivation is very important, and it oftentimes can determine what is convenient for us.
• 2:43
  So before we go any further, I'd like to ask all of you listening, what is your why? What keeps you motivated when you feel like quitting? I encourage you to think about that throughout this episode, and we'll check back in at the end. 76% of undergraduate students and 56 of professional and graduate students surveyed by the student experience and the research University consortium named a lack of motivation as the biggest obstacle to online learning.
• 3:07
  Motivation directly correlates with academic performance. Strong self-regulation, autonomy and positive emotions act as the strongest drivers for online learning, engagement and success. I've met with hundreds of students, perhaps thousands of students, over my experience in academic advising in my current position. Whenever I get with new students, I always ask them, why are you doing this? What is your motivation for this?
• 3:30
  That answer is very, very important. As students get into their individual semesters, they really need to keep that in focus, times get tough. No matter how convenient something is you still have to work at it. As an academic advisors I worked with a lot of students that were coming for the first time or coming back after a long absence, and we were looking at choosing classes. I always told them, make sure you find one class that you're excited to go to. Find one class that you're passionate about, because interest leads to motivation and motivation leads to success. Just like with individual classes, you need to make sure you're motivated for your entire program and finding that motivation is a very important part.
• 4:04
  So let's talk about some specific populations that can benefit from the convenience of online learning. First and foremost, working professionals. This is how I did my master's program back in the day. Being able to take classes and work on my classes after work, after the family was in bed, on my lunch break, during the commute. It was the only way I could have been able to complete my program or have access to my classes.
• 4:27
  Another great population is parents. Again, I've got personal experience with this. When I was doing my master's, I was married with a couple of kids. And being able to work on that while they were in bed was fantastic. My wife was also taking classes after we were married and had kids. She actually spoke at graduation and talked about balancing the laptop on one knee and the kid on the other, trying to keep them far enough apart from each other that they wouldn't destroy each other.
• 4:53
  She took great advantage of the fact that she was able to do classes while our daughter napped, and we would oftentimes tag team when I'd come home from work, so that she could focus on doing her classes while I had the kid. Another common population are those that are just trying to balance multiple responsibilities. If you've got a lot on your plate, whether it's family or work, hobbies, friends, social interactions or other projects you've got, being able to fit online classes in a time that's convenient for you is very important.
• 5:23
  And of course, returning students. Students who are coming back after an absence can sometimes feel disjointed from the university, and maybe trying to find a good way to ease into the process. Online allows them to get back into the groove of school without having to worry too much about that rigid schedule.
• 5:38
  In thinking of motivations, I think of my own motivations for going back to school for my master's degree several years ago. A big part of that motivation was improving my situation. For me, that meant professionally. Getting a master's degree opened some doors for me that weren't available with just a bachelor's degree. It also provided some very specific training that I wanted.
• 5:59
  At the time, I was working as an academic advisor, and being able to do a master's degree in academic advising increased my toolbox as I was working with them to help them be more successful and be better students. Another big reason for me wanting to go back was just the personal accomplishment. I wanted to be able to experience what graduate school was like and gain that ability to perform to that level.
• 6:26
  I've talked with hundreds of students over the years as well that have looked at coming back to school. A big part of them all have professional or personal development is a big reason for it. Some do it from expectation, some others do it because of just personal enrichment, wanting to always learn. I think deep down that's another big one of my motivations. I've always enjoyed learning. I think I work at a university, because I never wanted to leave it. And so having the opportunity to complete a master's degree in a format that worked for me, that allowed me to do it without having to append my career or my family in order to relocate or make it to classes was a real big blessing for me.
• 7:09
  Now, that we've talked about who online might be convenient for, let's talk about who it might not be convenient for. At events and things like that, where I've talked with people about online and told them about the wonders of it. Some people say you know what? Online is not for me, and I totally respect that. So what are some of these things or qualities that you might be on the lookout for.
• 7:29
  First, people who struggle without traditional structure. I've met a lot of people that if they don't have some guidelines or some guardrails in terms of what they should be doing and when. Really, really struggle to keep on task. This can be really difficult with online classes, because you've got to make that structure. This is not to say that, of course, that needing that structure is bad, but if that's something that you really depend on and really rely on, then online classes may not be the best for you.
• 7:56
  Another group is those that have difficulty self-motivating. With online classes, there's no professor in front of you telling you what to do or when to do it, or when it's due by. You really have to keep track of that information by yourself. So if you struggle with that internal motivation to organize and get those sorts of things done, then online classes may not be good for you.
• 8:18
  Lastly, I want to mention procrastinators. We all do it in one way or another, but with online classes, you have to make sure you're keeping track of the specific dates and deadlines, and sometimes it's easy to lose track of those. And so if you struggle with meeting those deadlines anyway, that additional complication can make it all the easier to miss things.
• 8:36
  Let's talk about a realistic day in the life of an online student. So I'm just going to share with you my own personal experience with this. Whenever I start an online class, the first day of class, I would sit down and look at the syllabus and map out everything I could. I built a Google calendar that had tracks, where I listed and tracked all of my assignments, my assessments, my discussion posts, any tests I had, projects, and I'd go through and I would mark days in advance. Hey, reminders for this is coming up. Make sure you work on this. This is when you're going to start looking at this.
• 9:09
  Then once I'd done that, every week, every Monday I would go through and look at what I had for the week, and I would decide, when am I going to work on these things. On Tuesday night, I'm going to do the discussion post. Wednesday during lunch, I'm going to start drafting this essay, try to find all the times as much as possible, and be as specific as possible in terms of what time am I going to spend doing where, and what day is that going to fall on, going to work and fitting that into my schedule. I was able to find times during the day when I could do things. I had about an hour long commute.
• 9:44
  Luckily, I took a bus, and so I've oftentimes told students to make sure you download the app for Canvas, because I personally have written drafts of essays on my phone while riding the bus into work, going through work and those processes. If I had a chance, I'd try to get some work done during then, try to work on my lunch break, get home, make sure to take care of the family, all those sorts of things.
• 10:08
  And then my family went to bed pretty much at 9:30. Once I got home from work, it was all about getting the family fed and taking care of, getting the kids to bed, spending some time with my wife and once all they went to bed from about 10:00 to midnight was my time to get additional studying done. That was the bulk of what I focused on my studies. I'm a night owl, so it made it pretty easy. And so I was able to focus at those times.
• 10:31
  But that Monday night work through and looking to see, OK, what am I going to do when, that was a very important part of my schedule. And that's what enabled me to get a lot done, because it enabled me to identify those specific times I could get that stuff done and prioritize things that needed to get done. When am I going to mow the lawn. When am I going to make sure I get time with my kids, spend time with my wife. Can we get out on a date this week? That kind of thing.
• 10:59
  So when it comes to the life of an online student, of course, everyone's going to look a little different. When my wife was going through her program online, she was-- took great advantage of nap times and such. Our kids were much younger then. In fact, we only had the one at the time. And so she would do study during nap time. She would go out on walks and listen to some of her lectures while she was walking with our daughter. When I would get home, I would work on dinner, and then I would tag team, and I would spend the time with my daughter so that she could study.
• 11:30
  So every online student has a very individualized way that they do their online classes, whether it's at home, whether it's finding a quiet spot. I've worked with students that have purposefully used our local campuses to do their studying on because home is not a quiet environment, but it really comes down to setting that schedule and identifying when you've got the time and where you can put that effort forth.
• 11:59
  So let's talk about some of the specific conveniences that online classes and online learning allow you. First and foremost, no commute time, no rigid schedule. You don't have to worry about making your life fit into your classes time, you get to decide when that is.
• 12:15
  Second, online classes allow for a lot of accessibility that isn't available in normal classes, whether this is for ADA reasons or just for pure convenience. For example, being able to go back through your materials whenever you want, you can pause lectures in online classes. You can't do that in in-person classes. You can review all the material that's available in the textbook and through the other means whenever you want, through your phone or through your laptop.
• 12:44
  Another accessibility option that you may not think about is closed captioning. You can watch a lecture in a quiet space without having to worry about having the volume up, and still get the material through the closed captions, or without disturbing other people. One of the other great conveniences about online learning is that you get to control the environment that you do it in.
• 13:01
  Now, as an advisor working with students, I always told them, try to study in the same place at the same time as often as you can, because that builds up a habit and allows your brain to shift into study mode quickly. Now, sometimes, though, that's not always an option. Or sometimes you just need a little bit of variety.
• 13:19
  When I was doing my master's program, I did have a dedicated study space, but there were some times where I just didn't want to be in the basement, so I would go out on the deck and sit-in a jacket in a camp chair with my laptop on my knees, reading through the material or watching the lecture. I was able to have a great sense of serenity and a great environment that allowed me to really dig in and focus on my material.
• 13:42
  Kind of along with being able to control your environment, online classes allow you to be geographically wherever you are. If you're traveling for work all the time, or if you've got a busy schedule that takes you many different places, online classes don't tie you down to one place. We'll have students that will be doing a big vacation or a big trip in the middle of a semester that take advantage of online classes, so that they can still go on that trip and experience that without having to fall behind in their coursework.
• 14:07
  Of course, we've also got people that travel for work, truckers, people in transportation, but also people that just are always out and about, that need flexibility and can't be tied to one location for their classes. Online classes allow you to do that. You need to make sure you have a reliable, regular internet connection, but that's a lot more easier nowadays than it used to be.
• 14:29
  Like we said at the beginning, convenience is subjective, so if you're worried about how you can make this convenient for you, here's some ideas. Like I said when I was mentioning my own experience, make a big deal about scheduling your day, purposefully set aside time to work on your classes. Schedule it as if you were going to class at that time.
• 14:48
  Also, make use of your micro time. Look for those little moments that you can get some studying in. Don't rely on those, but don't dismiss them either. Another thing you can do to make things more convenient is by stacking your classwork with your existing habits. Whether it's just making a regular practice of checking in on your class during your lunch break, or maybe reading a material over breakfast, you can establish some basic habits that incorporate with your regular routine to make sure you stay on top of your classes.
• 15:16
  Like I've mentioned several times before, scheduling is very important with online classes. And the great thing is you can schedule ahead. Online classes usually put out their schedule for the entire semester, so you can plan ahead and plan that extra time you may need. If you've got something busy coming up with work or family, or with anything else, put extra reminders in your phone or in your schedule, so that you can stay on top of things. Pre watch lectures, take notes, and work on assignments ahead of time. If you know that things are going to be busy, you can prepare for that, so much easier in an online class than you can in an in-person class.
• 15:50
  And lastly, take advantage of playback features and the fact that with online classes, you get to choose how you access your material. You've got full access to that material, make full use of it. So are online class is convenient? Conditionally, yes. You get to choose those conditions, though.
• 16:07
  If you have some extra time to realistically devote to taking online classes, you can add it to your schedule. However it works best for you. Online learning doesn't remove effort, it lets you choose when and how you spend it. With USU online, you can achieve your educational goals on your timeline.
• 16:25
  So if you're thinking about doing online classes, pay attention to your daily routine and schedule and ask yourself, do I have the time to devote to online classes? Can I stick to a self-made schedule? How can I best balance schooling with my existing routine? And how can I remain motivated?
• 16:41
  On that note, I'll circle back to my initial question, what is your why? I promise it'll benefit you greatly to have a reason to keep going when you feel like quitting. So that's it for today's episode with online with USU. I hope this has helped you a little. Think a little more differently about convenience and what it really means to make online education work for you. As usual, if you want to talk to us about something, just ask. Email me at, online@usu.edu or comment on this podcast. We'll answer your questions in an upcoming episode. Until next time, I'm Dan Allred. And remember, keep building what's next.
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