Online Class Time Management Essay
Ever since the widespread of COVID-19, countries all around the world have been suffering, and of course, the Philippines is no exception. This pandemic has not only the medical field, but also other fields like the political, economic, and educational fields. The Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education did not allow face-to-face classes for this school year. With no physical classes available, our country opted for online learning as the new normal. Learning that takes place partially or entirely over the Internet is known as Online Learning. (U.S. Department of Education, 2010). During this time, online classes would take entirely over the internet. Online courses are derived from a push “to provide quality education to all or any students, regardless of location and time” (Chaney, 2010, p.21). Online learning features more flexible access to content and instruction at any time, from anywhere. Frequently, the focus entails (a) increasing the availability of learning experiences for learners who chose not to use the modules, (b) assembling and disseminating instructional content more cost-efficiently, or (c) letting the instructors handle more students while maintaining the learning quality can be compared to face-to-face classes. (Means & Roschelle,2010) Despite astronomical growth within the past decade, distance education schemes see many casualties when large numbers of students register for online courses with no concept of what the experience will demand (Bathe, 2001 Hill & Raven, 2000 Moore, Bartkovich, Fetzner, & Ison, 2002; O’Brien & Renner, 2002, Stover, 2005). In this type of learning system, many students struggle with how to manage their time to do tasks. Time management is an essential term for everyone, particularly for students, where it depicts vital roles in our lives. Each student must recognize that they need to control their time by setting goals and expectations that can contribute to positive outcomes such as good school experiences and maximum achievements being preserved.
Motivation is important in managing time effectively. Maintaining motivation is already hard during physical classes. Imagine maintaining it during online classes. Lower success rates were faced by those students who lacked independence and self-motivation (Savenye, 2005). Learners’ lack of self-regulation could lead to poor quality work or late assignments altogether because not enough time was assigned.(You and Kang, 2014). Since online classes take place at home, learners will get distractions from time to time be it internal or external. It will affect the way they work and will definitely affect the time they use to finish their work.
Different technology applications are used to enhance learning. One class of online learning models uses asynchronous communication tools (e.g., e-mail, online learning platforms, messenger, Google Classrooms) to permit users to contribute at their convenience. Synchronous technologies (e.g., Zoom meetings, Google Meet, Messenger rooms) are accustomed to approximate face-to-face teaching strategies such as delivering lectures and holding meetings with groups of students. Earlier online programs attempted to implement one model or the opposite. More recent applications tend to mix multiple types of synchronous and asynchronous online interactions as well as occasional face-to-face interactions. Learning about complex knowledge requires a body of learners (Riel and Polin 2004; Schwen and Hara 2004; Vrasidas and Glass 2004) and online technologies can be used to spread and support those communities. Another belief is that asynchronous learning is mostly self-reflective and therefore more helpful than synchronous learning. (Harlen and Doubler 2004; Hiltz and Goldman 2005; Jaffee et al. 2006). Despite these modes of teaching offered, the students of Colegio De Santa Ana are having a hard time managing their time during online classes. In the comfort of their own homes, the students are not able to spend their time wisely because the schedule is not closely monitored by a teacher. In school, work is done and passed on the same day but in online classes, much more time is given. This makes it more difficult for students because they won’t worry about the activity until the time of the deadline comes.
In line with the problem, this paper proposes the Eisenhower Decision Matrix as an intervention in improving the time management skills of students during online learning. As quoted by Dr. J. Roscoe Miller, there are two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, therefore the important are never urgent. The 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower was stuck on what and how many tasks he should focus on each day. This finally led him to invent the world-famous Eisenhower principle, which today helps people prioritize by urgency and importance. He said that great time management means not only being efficient but also effective. To do this, and to attenuate the strain of getting too many tight deadlines, this distinction must be understood:
- Important activities are what lead us to achieve our goals, professional or personal.
- Urgent activities require immediate attention. Not dealing with these activities has an immediate consequence.
- Knowing which activities are urgent and important can help overcome the natural tendency to focus on things that are not essential to learning.