Online, accelerated programs tend to attract students who are balancing many competing priorities including working full time and supporting and caring for their families. According to Risepoint’s Voice of the online learner report, 25% of students who left their online programs within the first year cited balancing work and school commitments as the primary reason they stepped away.
You can play a critical role in helping students manage their time effectively by setting clear expectations and offering practical tools. Using the student time management planning worksheet below, help guide your students balance competing priorities.
Download and complete the worksheet
Each tab represents a module or week of your course and can be adjusted and completed to assess the time on task of learning materials and assessments in your course week-by-week.
Worksheet
As you complete this worksheet, review each module’s workload totals and ensure they align with your course credit hours. If the workload is too heavy, consider making some materials or activities supplementary.
Share the estimates
After completing the worksheet, you should now see a calculated week-by-week estimated time on task total. You can also use our template announcement below to announce this helpful information to students early in the term
Template
Hello [course name],
Welcome to the first week of our course! I’m excited to start this journey with you. As we kick off, I want to give you an idea of what to expect in terms of time commitments week-by-week.
Here is a quick summary:
[Course time on task table]
These weekly estimates include important course activities like readings, discussions, assignments, and projects. Some weeks may require a bit more time, especially when major deliverables are due, so it’s important to plan ahead.
This week, take a moment to review the syllabus, mark key deadlines on your calendar, and consider the estimated hours above. Think carefully about how you’ll fit coursework into your weekly schedule. Developing strong time management strategies now will help you stay on track and reduce stress later in the semester!
Remember, I’m here to support you—please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need guidance. Let’s make this a great semester together!
Best regards,
[Your name]
By completing the student time management planning worksheet and sharing your findings, you’re not just modeling time management; you’re giving students a head start and setting a tone of transparency and support.
