5. Time on Task

"Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task."
-- Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson

Some assignments and course activities produce wonderful learning experiences for students Some are viewed as drudge work and don't produce the desired results. We think our subjects are important and interesting. Getting students to spend the time is a challenge.

For promoting student Time on task there are a number of technology-facilitated learning activities. These include web-based research, collaboration and presentation.

Learning objectives

• review types of media
• discuss use of media in course work
• access media types
• locate and include media appropriate for own course
• explore other activity types and suggest suitability - books, workshop, etc.
• discuss accessibility issues, adaptive and assistive technologies

Introduction

Time on task alone is not enough. There has to be real energy put in, as well.

Time plus energy equals learning. There is no substitute for time on task. Learning to use one's time well is critical for students and professionals alike.

Students need help in learning effective time management. Allocating realistic amounts of time means effective learning for students and effective teaching for faculty.

Seven Principles - Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm

There is no question that working independently on assignments - problem sets, essays that demonstrate analysis and critical thinking are important. However, the technologies are available to provide activities that encourage students to work on subject content in other ways - research, collaboration, presentation, share, analyze.


Students say...

• Personally, I think that it is great that there is online group work in this class because I have another online class without group work and it is so boring.
  
  
• I really liked that group that I ended up with [students pick a group using Choice to limit group size to 5 students]. We had lots in common and were able to voice our opinion on the topic at hand freely. Everyone was accommodating and worked well together.
  
  
• I like how webcasted lectures enable students to be more flexible with their schedules. It was also very useful when I was studying for the midterms and final because I could go back and review any of the lectures to understand better what the professor was saying.
  
  
• It became quite fun as well--I could sit on my bed with my laptop in my lap, comfortably listening to the lectures and learning about...

5. Time on task :: Activities

1. Remember: Learning takes time. There is no substitute for student learning through Time on Task. However, making the time interesting and rewarding for students can be enahanced dramatically with technology.

2. In Ready-made instruction (Learn) forum, discuss the issues around using instructional content created by someone else. What do you think about open source resources, including whole courses? Have you included videos or images from the web in course? MIT, Harvard, Berkeley and Stanford as well as other institutions make lectures available - would you permit your lectures to be available like this? Would you include some of these other materials in your course?

3. There are a number of kinds of activities that are supported by functions within Catalyst. We have looked at the core functions as they apply to the Seven Principles. However, there are several others that are handy to know about. For this assignment, select one and review the Student and Instructor information about the one you select.

   From the Catalyst activities choice, select one of the activities. Review the Student and Instructor information about the one you select.