Video - Tips for Asynchronous Courses

>> Here are a few tips that
I hope can help you succeed

in an asynchronous online class like this one.

The first and most important thing to do is
that you need to create a routine for yourself.

Of course, summer courses are compressed
versions of traditional semester courses.

Which means that what normally might
take you a week or two weeks to do,

you might only have a couple
of days to do in a summer term.

That's why summer terms that are

about five weeks can be equivalent
to a whole semester course.

Now, that means that it's your responsibility
as a student to really think about how

to create a routine that works for you.

I understand and recognize that
many of you have complicated lives,

family responsibilities, work engagements.

Some of you work one, two, maybe more
jobs simultaneously while going to school.

And so it's really important for
you to manage your time efficiently.

Look at the schedule on Canvas and think about
how you can make sure that you can meet all

of the deadlines that you have
for this class while also keeping

in the air all the other balls
that you have to keep in the air.

So think intentionally and
proactively about your schedule.

The second thing that I encourage you to do
is make sure that you meet your deadlines.

As I mentioned in the introductory video,
this is a course that is asynchronous.

And that means that everything
works if it runs on time.

Since there are a number of you, there
are 40 students and only one professor,

it's not feasible for me to
be managing different papers

and different quizzes on different timelines.

And that's why everything is created to be
done according to a pre-established timetable

that is reflected on the Canvas site.

So I encourage you to meet your deadlines.

Because under this syllabus
there simply is no possibility

for redoing an assignment that you miss.

I'll talk more about grading in another video,

but I think this is really
important to underscore.

Since you cannot redo assignments if
you miss them, you need to make sure

that you put yourself in a
position to succeed early on.

The final thing is that one
thing that can help you

in this regard is simply setting
reminders on your phone or your e-mail.

Like send an automated e-mail to
yourself every Monday or every Friday,

reminding you of what your
obligations for this course are.

It's something that I do as a professor.

I set reminders on my phone so that just,
you know, it minimizes the risk that I will,

for whatever reason, miss an
appointment that I have to attend

or show up to an engagement
that I have committed myself to.

So think about what your responsibilities are
for this class and make sure that you show

up to this class ready to show
that you are ready to do the work.