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Strategies for Online Learning—Week 6, Assignment 1

Discuss how you might have adapted the techniques described in the text to work best for you. Next, summarize how the techniques may best work for you in an online environment.

I have always been a realist, which I believe differs from a pessimist: a pessimist expects the worst while a realist simply accepts the worst as a possible outcome and plans accordingly. While I do set goals, I try to make them as realistic as possible. Realistic goals increase the probability that they will be attained.

For school, I use a calendar to schedule my assignments on their due dates. These small weekly accomplishments are realistic goals that I can achieve. With each one successfully completed, I have finished a small goal for that week.

Use at least two specific examples of how you can turn “up to” goals into “through” goals. These can either be goals you’ve already presented in this course or different ones that come to your mind.

But just getting my assignments finished and turned in on time is not enough to achieve true success. Granted, this technique will help in getting a good grade in the class, but psychologically, all that is accomplished is the accomplishment itself. After that, there are no goals.

What I need is a shift in my thinking. I need to see these small “up-to” goals as part of a much larger “through” goal to move from an assignment-to-assignment mindset to a class-by-class, and eventually a year-by-year mindset. Ultimately, this could become a degree-by-degree mindset.

Transforming my “up-to” assignment goals into “through” goals could involve aligning them with my professional goals. For instance, learning to use Ruby on Rails, a Web software design framework, to streamline my Web development work is a professional “through” goal. It can be achieved through smaller, more palatable “up-to” goals such as completing assignments in a class in Ruby on Rails.

It’s kind of like the movie “What About Bob?” where Bob is encouraged to take “baby steps.” Bob’s ultimate goal may be to get home, but it is easier for him to do that if breaks up that goal into smaller pieces, ie. baby steps out of the office, baby steps to the elevator, baby steps out of the building.

Another “through” goal involves my children. Daily, small “up-to” goals can be simple things like reading at least one book to each child or talking with them about their day or my day. Larger goals can be to have good communication with them. My ultimate, “through” goal is to raise my children well, which all of smaller “up-to” goals support.