Identification of Time Regulation Difficulties of College Students in Distance Learning.

Abstract

Online distance learning allows a high temporal flexibility, whose drawbacks have been scarcely studied. The aim of this study is to identify the temporal difficulties of online learners in the context of distance education in relation to the temporal flexibility of the virtual campus. Students in distance education need to regulate their learning time more than in traditional universities where the learning times are externally regulated by the institution and the faculty. In distance education the learning rhythms and schedules are allocated in a more flexible way by the teacher and the institution. The article discusses the need for a high development of the time self-regulation competency in relation to the temporal flexibility offered by the virtual campus. After that, we introduce the methodology for identifying the time factor difficulties of the participants through a focus group methodology with a sample of tutors with a high degree of experience. The results indicate the lack of planning and time management competencies are considered by tutors as the main difficulty of learners in distance learning.