Your Weekly Routine

If you have taken a class that requires online work before, you know that the critical key to success is effectively managing your time. I will provide a schedule of activities and tasks, but you are responsible for completing those tasks on time. You will, of course, have to read, write, and think carefully and critically in order to get the most benefit out of this class. But in the online environment, effective time management is absolutely indispensable.

You can assume you will need to devote a minimum of six hours per week to this class. In fact, the usual rule-of-thumb is two hours out of class for each hour in the classroom, which would mean nine hours in a conventional three-credit course. Online learning is different, and the amount of time you need to spend on the class will depend on how time-efficient you are. Your "class time" includes reading, using course materials mounted on the Web, and writing assignments. I will always be available (via e-mail) to help you with any questions or concerns you might have.

Weekly Steps:

To help you better complete this class, I have outlined what your weekly routine should be. Follow the steps below each week:

1. Check the Topics section for reading assignments for the topic we are discussing that week.
2. Read the assignment in our textbook, The Modern World. While you are reading the textbook, take notes on the main ideas you encounter. 
3. Watch the topic’s lecture. These are fifteen to twenty minute summaries of the material we cover that week.
4. Read the assigned primary documents in also found in that week's Topics section. Do a Primary Source Analysis of the text (we will discuss this in class). 
5. Look at the Reflective Essay Question for the week (in the Topics section). After you have done the reading and thought about the question, write a response (a minimum of three full paragraphs) that you will post to your ePortfolio.
6. On weeks when you have another assignment due (like the About Me, My World, or the Globalization Project in your eportfolios), make sure to finish them as well by their due date.