When Working Mothers Enroll in an Online Degree Program

Posted by Benae Lambright on July 2nd, 2008

Making the decision to begin college for the first time or return to school as an adult is not an easy decision to make. Many times you will question this choice because of the challenge you see before you. In the past, if you choose to enroll in college your choice was to either register at the local community college or 4-year University. Today, attending classes at an on-ground institution is still an option but with the many advances in technology, distance education has become an advantage for many, especially the working mother.

A mother who works full-time spends about 10 hours of their day managing household activities, caring for household members, purchasing goods and services and their work related responsibilities, according to a report by the United States Department of Labor. If you add in sleep, leisure, sports and travel, you will begin to wonder how you incorporate going back to school, into your already busy day. Time management and organization are two pivotal ways to accomplish this goal. Just as you map out your plans for you children’s day, you must also make school a priority. It may not be as easy as you would like, but some planning in the beginning will save you a lot of worries later on during your course.

Just as school age children are being taught to brainstorm, plan and implement the many skills learned, we as adults can learn from this elementary practice. By using a calendar to schedule your day, you can limit the amount of confusion you face between class deadlines and carpooling your children to the many activities they are involved in, but require your participation. Find which method fits your style best: paper calendars that are available in notebook or pocket -size planners or if you are more tech savvy, you may prefer to keep your calendar in a software program or on your cell phone. One suggestion is to utilize your college’s email and calendar options. This will get you in the habit of checking your online course page daily. Logging into your class daily or quite frequently helps to minimize you missing announcements and updates from your instructor and encourages you to participate in the course’s discussion boards, seminars or other asynchronous formats used by your online college or university.

After you select what will be used to schedule your day, then it is advisable to schedule your “class time”. This is the time that you will devote to school. During this time you can read assignments, take online quizzes, post to discussion boards, write your papers or just study your notes. Just as you would have a set time to attend an on-ground class, you are devoting a specific time for you to complete your work. This dedicated “class time” should be organized and a commitment that you and your family should try to respect. When the working mother decides to embark on their distance learning experience, it is encouraged that this decision is supported by the whole family. It is very hard to comprehend what you are trying to learn if you are constantly interrupted by someone else wanting your attention. This time may have to be once the children are in bed or a few hours before the get up in the morning, but it needs to be uninterrupted time that will allow you to meet the weekly class requirements in a timely fashion. Because you are not able to see the instructor and your classmates face to face, your frequent participation in the learning process helps to build a community of learners.

The role of the working mother student is not easy, but it has so many rewards if you are able to stay on track. The completion of your degree may seem like an eternity, an impossible feat or just a challenge that you may not want to take on, but with effective organizational and time management skills, you can find your learning experience to be a lot more enjoyable, less stressful and a goal that is not that hard to reach.

Resources:

Bureau of Labor Statistics. United States Department of Labor. May 2008. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus2.t02.htm

Tags: Adult Learners, online degrees, Organization, Time Management, Working Mothers

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 10:23 am and is filed under Colleges and Universities, Online Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.