Does an online course allow for a flexible schedule?
Flexibility is certainly one aspect of online courses. However, there are other important aspects of online courses of which you should also be aware.
You'll find that planning and time management are necessary skills with your online courses becoming almost as much your responsibility as the instructor's. It's true that online courses offer flexibility, but within certain boundaries. For example, your online courses commonly:
- have definite start and end dates
- have a unit or weekly schedule to follow
- have required material to read
- have assignments or labs to complete
- have due dates for submitting assignments
- have due dates for completing quizzes and exams
- have due dates for responding in course discussions
There is flexibility within the weekly schedule. For example, you may be required to respond to a unit discussion question by Wednesday night and to, then, respond to other students by a specific day. This level of course flexibility allows you to go into your course any time Monday through Wednesday to post your initial response.