Teaching online requires a shift and reevaluation of how you manage your schedule. The first few times that you teach a course online will require more time and effort, so plan accordingly. There are also several aspects of online facilitation that are more time-consuming than in face-to-face settings. For example, the learners are going to have to navigate through all of the content in the environment, in many cases without your real-time guidance. If the content is not organized in a manner that makes sense to all of the learners, questions will arise that may prompt you to make adjustments to the layout and workflow.

Online courses afford more flexibility for learners, as they are able to log in any time from anywhere. As such, it is important for you to clarify expectations upfront that you cannot always be personally logged in to provide immediate responses. This is why it is critical to clearly communicate your office hours as well as how long it will generally take for you to reply to a question or comment.