Staying in Tune with Your Students
As you and your students settle into the routine of your online course, you will find yourself learning more about your students and their situations and needs. Through your interaction with your students, you should be learning:
Their background and interest in the course
What prior knowledge they have about the content
If they are an adult learner, what experience they have with the content and/or skills covered in the course
Where they are located and what time(s) of the week they tend to participate in the course
If they are an adult learner, how their work schedule impacts their participation in the course
As you get to know your students and their needs, you can adjust your interaction with them based on their needs and what they bring to the course.
Time Zones
One area that is challenging to online teachers is dealing with the various time zones represented by the students in the class. Keeping track of time zones can help you with scheduling live sessions, knowing better times to call the student on the phone, and knowing when you might hear back from them. Here are some tips to help you with time zones:
Once you know the timezones of your students, make yourself a little chart similar to the one below:
9:00 Eastern / 7:00 Mountain / 6:00 Pacific
11:00 Eastern / 9:00 Mountain / 8:00 Pacific
- Time and Date.com is a great site for assistance with time zones.
The Meeting Planner is useful for planning live meetings with your students.
The Time Zone Converter is useful to compare two specific time zones.
- Use Qlock to put a time zone widget on your desktop (don't be fooled by the paid versions - there's a link to the free one below the prices.)