Stay a step ahead
I may do a post on this every semester just before classes start.
This is an online course.
- I am responsible for my work.
- Turning work in late is unacceptable.
- The window to turn in work is about a week wide.
Turn in assignments as soon as possible after it is finished. This gives me the most amount of time to redo / update the work if it somehow fails the assignments. If I turn in work on a Monday with a Sunday deadline I can then
- Work on the next module
- Get the flu and not be worried about turning in work (this happened in Fall ’09)
- Plan for the final
- Never be in crisis ‘deadline’ mode
- Give the instructor and other students the maximum amount of time to critique the work and if necessary I can redo or create different versions – all of which help my participation.
There is a ‘whew’ feeling when I turn in work.
I treat class work as if it were customer assignments. The faster I get it done the more work I can do AND customer satisfaction increases. The faster I get quality work completed the more time I have to do more quality work! This means customer assignments or reviewing other classmates’ work.
Some instructors may change the assignments on the first day of a module, others will stick with everything that was available on the first day of class. Reading assignments don’t seem to change. Why not read the whole book before classes start and the review the chapters that are assigned? Talk to your classmates from prior semesters and ask them if they have taken that class and what was required during the first week or two. Better yet, get a full course module copy from a classmate (I don’t think that sharing my personal copy of all the course notes/handouts/webpages with another student that is enrolled in that same course violates anything), besides students do this all the time in the non-online world.
I’m taking these courses from AAU because they allow me flexibility. I don’t and should not take all that flexibility. If I get sick or in a car wreck or my proverbial dog easts my proverbial homework, I still have time to redo it. Making excuses to my instructor is like making excuses to the Boss for incomplete or late work.
OH WAIT! I (mostly) work for myself. I hate getting incomplete and late work so I better get it all in before the deadline. I try to get work to the boss as soon as possible. Sure, if it is raining and I can’t do the location shoot or I need another day to process work I still have that time available to me.
What I’m saying here is turn work in as soon as possible during the window when that session is open. You’ll be happier. You will do better work, you will leave better reviews, your grades will improve and you will do more work too!
BTW: The Boss is pretty happy with my output.
Throttled Back?
August 21st, 2010Every semester I write about keeping pace and even working ahead, when possible. It seems that AAU is happy to let you work ahead but thay are only going to let me see into the future by one module (week).
From the AAU site:
BTW: A module typically represents a week’s worth of online class material. It doesn’t contain all the material as there are often assignments using physical books, and additional online media. (Maybe I should write a module post?)
Modules are a great way of seeing what is really involved later in the course. My experience at AAU tells me that some syllabi are weak or incomplete representations of what is really involved in an entire course. Course outlines are slightly better yet they can also be vague. The best instructors provide a detailed outline of deliverables at the start of the course. I hope that AAU is toughening up their standards on outlines and syllabi so fundamental information about course work is well-defined across all classes.
I wonder why this is? Are students downloading the material from all the modules during the first week or so of classes then dropping classes? This new policy makes it more difficult to download content for future personal review and use.
As long as instructors tell me what they expect for mid-terms, projects, and finals I don’t see a problem. Due to work assignments (Read: Austin City Limits Festival) I will have to ask my instructors for homework assignments that are more than a week out, a couple of times this semester.
Just more work for the student and instructor I suppose.
UPDATE: (8/21/2010): I’ve sent a request to the helpdesk at AAU for a comment on this post. More later…
UPDATE: (09/01/2010) I’ve sent another request to the helpdesk at AAU as I have not received a reply yet. More later…
UPDATE: (1/1/2011) BTW: I never got an update but I understand this is a generally unpopular idea withing the photo department.
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