Many online instructors choose the very end of the day - 11:55 or 11:59. This might make sense if you want to give them as much time within a day to get an assignment in.
However, I close mine at 10 p.m. Why? No matter how many times you tell students not to wait til the last minute, you bet that they will. No matter what time it is, the last hour or so is the ONLY time that a student can complete a test.
So statistically more problems and panic arise at the hour of closing that any other time. I figure I should be available at that hour, and I do not want to stay up til the wee hours waiting for a test to close.
Any thoughts or debate on this??
6 comments:
Great topic for discussion, Roberta. I close my assignments on Fridays at 9:00 pm. I, too, want to be available to answer last minute questions and I don't like to tie up my weekends working in my classes.
I tell my students that assignments are due Fridays at 9:00 pm because I know they have better things planned for Friday evenings. This, hopefully, encourages them to submit assignments a bit earlier.
I have thought about 8:00 on a Monday morning because it gives the students all weekend...and all night if needed. I watch the course pretty closely on the weekends though. If you don't, then choose another day of the week to have things due. Meg
Meg, that would shake them up! And, since your course [not you specifically, Meg :-)]is not the only one students take - it might be a smart idea to remind them regularly of the deadlines. I just had a student tell me that he thought 10:55 pm was the deadline - this 12 weeks into the course.
Hi all, I've tried several different times, but the best move I ever made was to make my weekly assignments due Monday evening at 11:00 pm. this provided flexibility for students wanting or needing to work over the weekend, and it eliminated 98% of the technical problems students had relating to getting bumped off on Sunday nights. Of course, this only works because most faculty do not do it this way! JP : )
My purely online classes have major work due at the almost-midnight deadline on Mondays. If I were to have work due during my (reasonable) lurking hours online, it would be afternoon-ish.
I see the value of being there for them during submission times, having the ability to unstick them, etc. I always have at least one student who gets hung up or has a modem issue, or the dog ate their power cord...
I have all classes web-enhanced, and I have found it very valuable to have all major class work due at 1155pm the night of class, that is, roughly 12 hours after class. They've known and heard about the essay for two weeks, drilled and practiced, had lecture on the readings, etc--and if they are wise, they have the essay (or whatever) ready to submit by class that last interval/week and can workshop it, ask last minute questions, etc. This helps those on top of their game get that final polish. It also helps pathetic procrastinators get that 12 hour warning so they can at least get something in by the last minute. I have found it even helps people come to class, even if they are empty handed on the day a paper is due--that used to eat into attendance a lot!
I use to have my assignments due at 11:55 pm - then 10 pm, but the reasons most students gave me for missing the deadline was computer issues. So I changed my deadline to noon on Wednesday. I tell students the deadline is set this way so that if their computer is not working or their internet is down, they can find someplace else to finish their assignment. I have had less late assignments. The only issue I have now is students who confuse the deadlines for different online classes.
Elizabeth
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