Overview In this tutorial you will: learn the importance of setting goals learn the importance of managing your time. There is also a podcast version of this tutorial – there’s a link to it on the page you just came from.

What’s worked for you before? We all start to learn from the day we’re born. Almost all of us have had some formal schooling and have memories of those experiences. Or we’ve been taught how to cook, drive a car or play a game or sport. Many of us have studied at high school or tertiary level. We have all, at some time in our lives, learned new things and used what we have learned.

Developing new learning skills All of these formal and informal learning experiences make up who we are as learners and how we feel about learning. So even if you haven’t undertaken formal training for a long time, or you feel unhappy about your most recent learning experiences, you can use the positive experiences as a starting place for developing new learning skills. And in your e-learning course, you’ll use them in a new, digital environment!

Goals and attitudes What are your goals and how will you plan for them? Knowing what your goals are and planning to make them happen are important ways to both discipline and motivate yourself when you are learning something new. Knowing your goals may also help you to clarify your attitudes to learning.

Long term goals Some goals are long term – they won’t happen overnight. Example: ‘My goal is to complete my course so I can get a great job.’

Short term goals To achieve your long term goal, you also need to set short term goals. You can act on these right away. Example: ‘My goal this week is to be prepared for my next online tutorial’. To achieve this short term goal you might plan to complete the readings tonight and the preparation activity tomorrow evening. This way you can keep your focus on what you have to do next, and avoid getting overwhelmed by the big picture! Later you can do some goal setting activities in the ‘Try it’ section.

Time management These days it’s rare to find anybody who doesn’t have a busy life. Our time is taken up with working, eating, sleeping, shopping, preparing meals, socialising, watching TV, surfing the net, playing computer games, hobbies, household chores, reading, exercising, to name just a few. How do people fit learning into their busy lives? It takes motivation and discipline. Knowing your goals and how you plan to make them happen will help you decide what your priorities are. Knowing your priorities will help you organise your life to include learning time and avoid learning and avoid distractions. Later you can do some time management activities in the ‘Try it’ section.

Summary and follow up Summary In this tutorial you have: learned the importance of setting goals learned the importance of managing your time. Follow up Close this window and: listen to the interviews with teachers for tips on goal setting and time management try the activities on goal setting and time management in the ‘Try it’ section.