Assignment posting time issues.

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by copteacherz, Mar 25, 2018.

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  1. copteacherz

    copteacherz New Member

    Hello all,
    I am currently in my second course at Lamar University. I am having a difficult time with one of their methods for blackboard assignments. There are weekly discussion questions and quizzes. These assignments are "opened" up to view and complete on Monday AM and due on Friday at midnight (5 weekdays). Does this seem unreasonable for an online course that's geared towards working adults? In my previous Lamar course, the assignments were posted on Sunday AM and due Saturday at midnight. This felt more appropriate and it was less stressful to complete the weekly assignments. In other online classes I have taken at other colleges the assignments were posted for the entire semester or 2-3 weeks in advance. This was great for people with demanding careers and families. You could "jump" ahead and finishes assignments for weeks where schedules are hectic.
     
  2. scaredrain

    scaredrain Member

    At my current university, the week runs 12 am EST on Monday of each week to 1159 pm EST on Sundays of each week. This is for 5 and 8 week classes. Weeks are not posted in advance. Our university does warn students that online classes are compressed and will include the same amount of work as a traditional 16 week seated course, with some adaptations.
     
  3. suelaine

    suelaine Member

    I think it is unreasonable, but I started out in distance learning before there were Internet options, and the philosophy of the few distance learning options out there was definitely to offer extreme flexibility so you could do your work and meet your learning objectives on your own schedule, meeting other obligations that responsible adults often have, FIRST. I appreciated that and took that philosophy with me as I became an online instructor. Being in contact with many other online instructors, I believe my philosophy is now mostly in the minority.

    I now work for 5 schools, and 3 generally have "Sunday before midnight" due dates for most weekly assignments. That is not too bad, but some also have rules such as "post by Wednesday" and post substantially x times per week, different days, and so on. And when I see instructors pushing and defending that type of "participation" (most of which I feel is more contrived than having the true educational value suggested) it makes me think if I had to do over again, I'd probably choose the community college option of taking a 3 hour course one day per week rather than the online options out there which are less and less flexible. The community college were I took some of my courses was actually more considerate of busy working adults' needs than some modern day online course options. My work was due that one day per week and I needed to be prepared for exams, etc. on that day. But during the week, I could do ALL of my work on whatever day or days best suited my schedule.
     
  4. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    This is a good issue to identify and could conceivably make a difference in a person choosing one school over another.
     

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