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[lilyteach]

I will be teaching my first online class this summer at my cc, and I am wondering if this workload is too light (or heavy) for an 8-week composition class:

1. Three weekly posts (1 paragraph) to small group discussion board. Three responses to others.
2. One weekly journal (2-3 paragraphs) on required service-learning project.
3. About 20 pages of reading a week.
4. Five hours of outside service learning.
5. Four major papers (about 12 pages total).

Thoughts?

[queenofstarwars]

That sounds fine.  I teach a lot of 8-wk online courses and they need to
1) Write five, four-page papers.
2) Post in discussion boards (two required questions) at least 3 different days in the week.
3) Read between 20 and 40 pages per week.
4) Complete a final project (approximately 10 pages)

I always make Week 1 a light workload because there are ALWAYS issues with getting online, textbooks, figuring out what to do, etc...

[phydeaux]

I always make Week 1 a light workload because there are ALWAYS issues with getting online, textbooks, figuring out what to do, etc...

That's what I do, too. Week 1 is devoted to posting and commenting on autobiographies and completing practice assignments to get used to the technology and weekly posting schedule. The "real work" of reading and discussing the literature gets going in Week 2.

[spectrum]

I'm going to be teaching an online gen ed course this summer and this thread is helpful.  The course will be 10 weeks long.  So would this be a reasonable expectation:

1.  Five four-page papers (or possibly three 3-page papers, then a draft of the final paper, and then the final paper of 6 pages.)
2.  Post in the discussion board with 2 required questions and at least 1 comment on someone else's question in the week.
3.  About 25 pages of reading from a textbook (big pages) each week.  Listen to recorded lectures (about 2 hours per week) and simultaneously view Powerpoints.

I am not sure about setting an exam.  It could not be a proctored exam, and I am not enthusiastic about an open-textbook untimed exam. 

Is this workload too light?  I would like to keep it pretty light because I want to stay sane, but I don't want it to be ridiculously easy.

[hannahferr]

From a student's point of view, it seems very good. Not to heavy, but balanced and thorough.