It's About Time: Temporal Structures in Online Learning

Abstract

This paper examines different time preferences and temporal structures amongst individual learners and the change in temporal culture that technology has brought to learning. It argues that individual learners have different time preferences ranging from monochronic to polychronic. It notes that online learning brings a different temporal culture that has moved from learning activities based on clock time to task-based activities. Using a multi-method approach the research highlights that learners with a polychronic time perspective will need to be given different types of support and guidance than those with a monochronic view. Furthermore, it argues that the identification of the timestyles of learners has the potential for better understanding of behaviours and may help reduce conflict and lead to more realistic expectations of behaviours of online learners.