CyberCities is an Internet course. So, what does that mean? Well, it means that there are no face-to-face lectures or tutorials. All of the course materials (lectures, assignments, course information, etc.) are contained on the course website and all communication with the Teaching Team is conducted through email (personal email and course listservs). You will be engaged in self-directed learning with the assistance of the Teaching Team and will participate in asynchronous on-line discussions of the course materials.

So, you have no specific time commitments to CyberCities each week. Great right?

Well, yes and no. You do not have to show up to a lecture hall or tutorial room at a specific time each week but that does not mean that you do not have time commitments to CyberCities. Remember that, you have to do 2 hours of lecture work and 2 hours of tutorial work each week whether you are in a classroom at York University or not. On top of these 4 hours each week, you should be spending additional time on readings and assignments each week. You can do this work at any time day or night during the week but you still need to get it done each and every week.

So, CyberCities is going to take a lot of self-discipline, organization, and time management.

This may sound a little rigid but planning ahead can save you a lot of time in the long run and ensure that you complete all of the tasks that you need to get done. You cannot just sit down and do sixteen straight hours of work on CyberCities each week. You have to plan out blocks of time during the week to devote to CyberCities and stick to that plan. Writing down a weekly schedule also ensures that you address all of the requirements on your time for that week and relieves you of the burden of trying to remember everything that you have to do each week. A bonus to scheduling is that you can build in guilt-free fun time!

You will be getting a lot of email each week and you need to plan ahead for this. You should be checking your email at least every second day. Blocking out time during every week to read your course email and do your tutorial tasks is essential. You cannot fall behind on this task or put it off for a week or two. Your course email will require constant attention. We cannot stress enough that you need to manage your email by using filters and blocking out course email time each week, several times a week. Do not mix your course email sessions with reading your other email. This will be too overwhelming and time consuming.

The end of term can close in on you quickly so keep in mind your long-term commitments and build them into your weekly schedule. Break down course assignments into manageable components and include these components into your schedule. Use this time as building blocks to get at least some work done on each assignment every week so that you do not get caught in a last minute rush.

This point cannot be stressed enough! Once you know what you need to get done and when you have planned to get it done, stick to your plan. If you start playing with your schedule remember -- once you knock one of the domino pieces down the others are sure to follow. It is much easier to stick to your schedule then to get back on schedule and make up for the lost time.

Build in fun time to reward yourself for sticking to your schedule. Do not leave all of the fun time to the weekend alone. Reward yourself with smaller fun times during the week. This strategy will give you some down time during the week, help you feel good about your accomplishments, and refresh you for the next task on your schedule.

There may be 24 hours in a day but, realistically, there is no way that you can skip sleep and use all of those hours for school work. Be honest about what you can reasonably accomplish during the week. You will not set yourself up for disappointment and failure if you do.

Recognize the trouble spots in your weekly schedule when you know that it will be hard for you to stick to it. Acknowledging these trouble spots is the first step to dealing with them. Recognize the trouble times in your weekly schedule and work around them. Give yourself extra rewards or use some of these times as your weekly fun time. When you just have to push yourself to work during these times, choose the more pleasurable of all of your tasks to do.

No one can design a perfect week. Plan in some flex time each day to cover those unexpected surprises in life.