A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF AN ONLINE HIM STUDENT
You can juggle your work responsibilities, family life, and going back to school all at the same time.
A typical week in a student's life requires efficiency and organization, but he or she has the flexibility to choose when to study and how best to approach the program's objectives. Here's a great example of how you can get it all done:
Monday
Arriving home from work, you make dinner and relax for a few minutes while thinking about your "to do" list for the week. You read your Course Manual that was printed at the beginning of the course and take note of the week's assignments displayed on the Course Schedule. You pick up your calendar/planner and break down your tasks into a daily "to do" list. Tonight you listen to the narrated PowerPoint. As a result of the PowerPoint lecture, you now have a clearer picture of what is expected this week. You take one quick check of your UC email, course announcements, and the general discussion board before watching your favorite TV show.
Tuesday
It is a busy day at work, but you take a few minutes during lunch to click into the Course Announcements and Group Discussion Board to see if anything new has been posted. The traffic on the way home was terrible and you feel fortunate that you can continue your education online versus driving down to a campus, parking, and sitting in a classroom. In fact, you are thinking that a short 20-minute nap is in order before reading the textbook. You take notes and highlight key points from your reading assignment. Reviewing the module objectives makes you confident that you are on the right track and understand the key aspects of the course content. Next on the daily "to do" list is to work on the Group Discussion Board assignment. You review this week's topic and then proceed to read threads posted by your classmates. One of the threads prompts you to reply with comments. Although you are not ready to post your original posting, you write some notes about the topic and go to AHIMA's Community of Practice (CoP) and explore "current thinking" on the subject. Before taking your dog for a walk, you make a quick check of UC emails.
Wednesday
On your way home from work, you run a couple of errands and pick up dinner. After dinner, you attend a weekly live Chat session with faculty and fellow classmates. You ask the faculty member to clarify the directions for the writing assignment that is due Sunday night. You find it fascinating that you are chatting in real-time with HIM professionals from all over the country. One student in Texas manages records for a Correctional facility; another is from Michigan and works for a large physician group practice. The student from New Mexico is a hoot - she always signs off the chat with a YEEHAW!
After completing research from AHIMA's CoP, you compose and submit your original Discussion Board posting. Next, you read the new postings uploaded since last night and ask another student questions regarding his/her thread. Before returning a few phone calls, you draft an outline of this week's writing assignment.
Thursday
You start the day by checking announcements and UC emails. In addition, you decide to post a question about the writing assignment in the Group General Discussion Board. After arriving home from work, you log into the course to check the Group Discussion Board to read the answer to the question you posted earlier in the day. After dinner, you take a long walk and complete your writing assignment. Next, you take a couple of the interactive eLearning assessments posted in the course Toolbox. The results of these ungraded assessments allow you to see gaps in your knowledge before studying for the weekly quiz. As you head off to bed, a sense of pride comes over you as you realize how much you have learned and how in just a couple of years you will have your bachelor's degree!
Friday
Once at work, you head off to a meeting before tackling the tasks that you have for the day. During the meeting, you were surprised that a subject was brought up that you recently researched for your Discussion Board assignment. It is exciting that your work life and education are intertwined. After arriving home, you check your emails before going out to dinner and a movie with friends.
Saturday
In the morning, you grab a cup of coffee and head to your computer to get some work done. You finalize your writing assignment for the week and submit it for grading. After submitting the assignment, you see that last week's writing assignment has been graded and is ready for your review. You truly appreciate all of the personal feedback that you receive from faculty members on each of your assignments. Next, you review the notes from the PowerPoint lectures and textbook before taking the weekly Quiz. You immediately receive your electronic score of 9 correct out of 10 questions. The quiz statistics will be available on Tuesday, so you mark this on your calendar. After taking a few moments to respond to your classmates on the group discussion board, you check the Course Announcements, General Discussion Board, and emails. You are looking forward to the rest of the day to take a bicycle ride, catch up on chores, and visit with friends.
Sunday
After sleeping in a little, you head downstairs for Sunday breakfast and the morning newspaper. After breakfast, you look over next week's module and decide to get a head start by listening to a narrated PowerPoint lecture. In the evening, you decide to click into the HIM Community site to see what books need to be ordered for next quarter. After clicking into the Cyber Café, you participate in a discussion concerning HIM practice issues.
