Quite often when considering online workload issues, it can be tempting to focus on how to minimise it, though care should be taken as reducing workload can have a negative impact on student workload and learning quality. It may be more productive to think about how to manage online teacher workload effectively and this can be done in context with maintaining overall learning experience. Online teaching workload can be managed through successful time and information management, aspects of course design and effective teacher and technical support.

Time management

Whether an online teacher is working at home or in their workplace, it can be easy for the distinction between online work and other work or home life to become blurred. In face-to-face teaching, the two can be more easily separated but, when working online, it can help if teachers create their own guidelines.  Here are some suggestions for efficient time management:

• Have a separate physical space that is set aside for work. This helps minimise interruptions, allows documents to be stored safely and is especially important if you are working from home.
  
• Allocate set amounts of time for online work. It is important to ensure that you are unavailable for other responsibilities and that others in the house or workplace are aware of and respect this arrangement.
  
• Organise your work schedule to be as efficient as possible. For example:
  
  • Prioritise tasks
    
  • Make a list of important tasks before going online
    
  • Leave personal emails and communications until after the allotted work time
    
  • Stick to the tasks at hand and try not to become distracted
    
  • Leave tasks that need more concentration for times when you are feeling refreshed and will not be interrupted.
• Be realistic about the amount of time needed to accomplish tasks. Try and keep to your schedule as there is no limit to the amount of time and energy that you can put into student interaction. Online teachers may need to guard against overload and against students becoming overly dependent on them.
  
• Work off-line as much as possible. If working from home, you may want to minimise the cost of online time and perhaps also free up your phone line but, even in the workplace on higher bandwidth connections, working online can slow you down as you have to accommodate varying server speeds and times of high Internet traffic.

Information management

Effective time management can also require efficient information management. Online teachers will often be dealing with large amounts of electronic information and, without the ability to create a physical and tangible system of organisation for this, it is important to learn how to create the equivalent sense of order in an electronic environment. There are clear benefits to information being in this format as it means it is easier to set up, store and reuse information. Here are some tips for effective management of electronic information:

• Use templates. Templates can be a key benefit to working efficiently online as they allow information to be reused and modified for different situations. This can save a lot of typing and also ensures that the standard of information and response doesn’t vary widely between students and classes. Some examples of useful templates are:
  
  • Administrative emails that are used regularly. For example, messages welcoming students to a course or giving information on access, reminders of deadlines, requests for evaluative feedback, rubrics for specific activities or tasks, information on assessment procedures or subsequent courses.
    
  • Feedback on specific student activity work. These can be as simple as confirmations of receipt of work but can also be based around quite detailed qualitative feedback. It is important to modify the latter as much as possible to ensure each student feels they are getting a personalised response that reacts specifically to important elements in their work.
    
  • Documents for tracking student progress. For example spreadsheets that allow you to record receipt of work, when it has been responded to and if it needs to be amended. These can be quite detailed and can include student information such as contact details, notification of absences and biographical information.
    
  • Documents for administrative record keeping. For example attendance registers or moderation forms.
• Know your email programme and use filters and mailboxes to sort and store messages. All incoming and outgoing mail can be filtered into separate Mailboxes to allow you to prioritise and easily find messages. Many email programmes have good search facilities to help you find specific information.
  
• Prioritise messages. Skim through emails when they arrive and respond immediately to any urgent questions or simple requests, send 'holding' responses if you don't have time to send immediate feedback and delete anything that's not essential, for example petitions, bogus virus warnings, chain letters and other hoaxes.
  
• Keep a structured system of records. This may include keeping up-to-date records of student progress in electronic or paper format, setting up a system of folders on your computer for saved copies of student work and keeping accessible records of student details.
  
• Keep copies of everything and keep information safe. Don’t forget to keep back-up copies of important information and to protect your computer from viruses and unauthorised access. You may also find it useful to keep paper copies of important information such as email and web addresses in case your computer becomes completely inaccessible.
  
• Don’t be afraid to use ‘old’ technology. You will need to keep a certain amount of information in electronic format for ease of sharing and storage but you may find it more efficient to keep an ongoing paper record, say of student progress, that you update regularly to your computer.

Course design

There are several different aspects of course design that can affect teacher workload including the types of activities chosen, the technologies used and the timing and overall schedule of work.

Activity types
Certain activity types require less teacher input:

• Group based activities. For example discussions, collaborative exercises and peer reviewed activities as the teacher often need only monitor and record rather than respond to every contribution. This is in contrast to individual activities where direct feedback is needed.
  
• Quizzes and multiple choice questionnaires. These are quicker to evaluate than written reports.
  
• Self-assessed and computer assessed tasks. In both cases, the teacher may need to give no feedback.

Minimising teacher workload can mean an increase in student workload so it is important to keep a balance and to consider both in context with each other.

Technologies

Some technologies allow teachers (and students) to work more efficiently, for example:

• Asynchronous communication. Communication which is not in ‘real’ time, for example email and discussion forums, allows the teacher to set their own work schedule and can be more efficient than some synchronous technologies such as ‘chat’ and video conferencing.
  
• Being able to work off-line. For example by email and with downloaded web pages, which can be more efficient than web-based work.
  
• ‘Low-tech’ web based technologies. These can include such examples as text-based web pages, which are quicker to navigate and use than more feature-rich ones such as Virtual Learning Environments, animations, audio files and graphics.

Timing and structure

• Having a variation of activity types. The aim is to ensure that workload heavy tasks are not all scheduled consecutively. This is important for the management of both teacher and student workload.
  
• Allowing enough time for completion of activities and for feedback. This requires a good knowledge of the complexity of the different activities and can be optimised by using templates for feedback.
  
• Providing structure and reminders to help students stay on track. This can include clear synchronisation points and suggested deadlines for individual activity work.
  
• Encouraging student self-direction. This allows the teacher to concentrate on pedagogical and pastoral issues.

Teacher Support

Online teachers can be provided with a range of information and resources at the start of a course to help them manage students and their workload. Some examples of useful resources are:

• A teacher guide. This can be an effective way to outline the key components of online teaching and what is expected. It can be in an electronic format and should be easily readable, of a file size small enough to be emailed and should be kept up-to-date with easily recognisable version numbers or dates. It could contain details of:
  
  • How and where to access the course materials and how to use the facilities used to deliver the course.
    
  • What is expected of the teacher in terms of response times, student feedback and support, technical skills, record management and conduct
    
  • What the teacher should expect from students
    
  • What hardware and software is needed and how to deal with technical problems
    
  • Procedures for enrolment, deferral, accreditation and moderation and how to deal with procedural issues
    
  • Additional resources and appendices that relate to specific issues, for example information just for new teachers, for particular employment arrangements or relevant to different courses.
• Guidance on effective time and information management. This can include information on how to set up a system for recording student work, help with creating and maintaining a back-up of student work, progress details and administrative records and how to manage teacher input time.
  
• Up-to-date copies of documents that students will need. These may include portfolio templates, study guides or examples of work.
  
• Guidelines on how to manage students online. These may include information on how to communicate, how to manage individual and group participation and how to motivate and encourage contributions.
  
• An active mentoring scheme. This can provide new teachers with the opportunity to share in the experience of experienced teachers, either in pairs or as a group activity. This can be done via email or as part of an online discussion forum.
  
• An online teacher support forum. This can be email based or an online discussion forum and can allow teachers working in similar areas to provide pedagogical, social and technical support for each other.

With increasing experience, teachers may find they develop more efficient ways to manage student progress, administrative records and their own time, and these innovations can be shared with other teachers and administrators.

Technical Support

For online teachers to be efficient and to be able to teach effectively, it is important that difficulties they encounter with any hardware, software, course materials or communication facilities are resolved as quickly and easily as possible. Although this can depend a great deal on having technical support staff willing and able to respond quickly to specific problems, there are also strategies that teachers can employ to help themselves. Some examples are to:

• Keep up-to-date anti-virus software. It is also essential to have a working knowledge of techniques to protect against viruses.
  
• Keep regular back-ups of important documents. These should be in a separate, safe location as a precaution against computer failure, theft or fire.
  
• Ensure your Internet Service Provider (ISP) is reliable. Your ISP should also have adequate technical support and this is particularly important if you work remotely.
  
• Have an alternative method to access the Internet. In an emergency, you may need to go online quickly and so should have a reliable alternative such as a local library or Internet cafe.
  
• Insure your personal computer. This guarantees that it can be replaced quickly in the event of major damage or theft
  
• Have access to an alternative email address. This allows continued access in an emergency.

It can also help to have:

• An online discussion forum for general technical problems. This should be accessible by all teachers and technical support staff so that solutions can be shared.
  
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) pertaining to technical support for teachers. This can be included in the teacher guide or posted in an easily accessible section of an online teacher support system.
  
• A system for warning of foreseeable technical problems. For example via email for such things as planned interruption to server access and maintenance of facilities.

You will find, with experience, that you develop your own strategies for managing your workload, depending on the type of programme you are teaching, your students and your work arrangements. It may be that some workload management strategies need to be provided by your employer whilst others depend upon your own awareness and needs. With attention to time and information management, sympathetic course design and suitable support, you should be able to find an approach that works for you and allows you to manage your workload effectively.