Monday, October 27, 2008
Change Strategies to Get More Work Done
I often think about teaching online as similar to writing a dissertation. It's very different in that the dissertation is one big project, while online teaching is generally a lot of small but endless tasks (grading, responding to email, reading and responding to BB posts, more responding to email, etc.). But it's the same in that it can be isolating, and in that when we are working in isolation, it can be easy to get overwhelmed, to procrastinate, to develop a bad attitude, etc. I still subscribe to a newsletter I started getting when I was ABD (All-But-Dissertation), and it recently published a short piece on some changes you can make if you are feeling some of this isolation and its related problems (like using every excuse possible to put off your grading). Check it out here (note: not for those who don't like self-help-y reading). And if you are writing a dissertation yourself, I definitely recommend subscribing to the newsletter!
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1 comment:
I don't think of isolation as a problem. In fact, being with others when trying to get one's work done seems to me would lend much more easily to distraction! But perhaps what you mean by isolation is simply ever once in awhile needing to touch base with others - perhaps to vent, perhaps to compare notes, to share ideas as to how we "get it done"? Maybe you could hold a weekly? monthly? one hour online open chat for any of us to pop-in should we feel the need for such "companionship" and "commaraderie". Something simple like using the WIMBA based "voice direct" in the ELI Bb site (avoiding any need to sign-up in advance to be in on the discussion). Setting up a "voice direct" in the ELI Bb site would also make it available to any of us whenever two or more of us agree to or happen to enter the space at the same time (you don't have to be there yourself)
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