Читать книгу Online Learning For Dummies - Susan Manning - Страница 51

Raising a family isn’t easy. Your children need and deserve your time and attention. They also need to be fed and bathed, have their homework checked, be driven to tennis class, and more! But what if you’re a parent and want (or need) to return to school? What are the benefits of online education over traditional schooling for you?

 Childcare savings are possible. On the one hand, we don’t recommend trying to be a serious student with small children running around; you can’t concentrate adequately when your attention is divided between keeping your child safe, loved, and engaged versus completing a discussion question. However, it’s reasonable to think that there will be quiet times when you can concentrate on your schoolwork and not have to pay for a babysitter. Save the babysitting money for those times when you have to take an online test and absolutely cannot be distracted.

 You don’t have to spend time commuting. You can study from home or from your workplace (with permission, of course), but you don’t need to add travel time to school. That means more time for the family, ultimately. Many parents study at the dining room table while school-age children work on their own homework. “School” starts right after the dinner plates are cleared.

 Speaking of school-age children, studying in their presence sends a powerful message about lifelong education, your values, and the need to balance work, family, and school. Yes, maybe they can see that if you go to night class twice a week. However, we think it’s qualitatively different when your children witness you logging in daily and truly keeping abreast of what’s happening in class.

So, as a busy parent, when are you supposed to fit in your schoolwork? For parents of very young children, naptime means class time. Many parents who take online classes dedicate those quiet moments to getting on the computer and completing class assignments.

What if you’re not available to your child during the day, but work from 9-to-5? You have a few options:

 Get up earlier and work for an hour each morning before you wake up the kids.

 If you’re working outside the home, make arrangements with your boss to work online at your desk during your lunch break.

 If you’re a commuter (and not driving!), consider what coursework you can do during that time. Your “green” friends might not appreciate your printing off the whole course to read on the train, but what about your textbook? How about working through a discussion question the old-fashioned paper-and-pencil way and then posting it online later? Or, what about catching up on reading with the help of a tablet?

 Pull out the laptop when your children do their homework. You will not only stay current in class but also model excellent study skills for your kids!

 Stay up an hour past your children’s bedtime to catch up on your class.

Only by setting a schedule can you manage work, family, and school. That’s true for traditional learning, too — to survive, you must establish a regular schedule for study and stick to it. (True story: Your humble coauthors went back to school online because we were working parents and it was the only way we could manage.)