Syllabus always plays an important role during
learning process. It becomes even more important for students who take an online
course, since students don't have many direct interactions with their instructors, compared with face-to-face class.
Students may feel confused and even get lost if an instructor fails to
provide a good and clear online syllabus. In my opinion, syllabus is like a detailed
and practical “survival guide". If you want to “survive” in a course, the first
thing you must do is to read the syllabus carefully!
I like the way Ko and Rossen interpreted
the roles of syllabus in a course. They used three words to conclude its
functions. The first one is contract. Syllabus is the contract between students
and instructors, laying out the terms of the class interactions. This is also
the reason why an instructor needs to write a syllabus and usually discuss it
with his/her students in the first class. Informing students their expected
responsibilities and duties, the grading criteria, the musts and don’ts of behavior
is the first task for instructors. The second one is map. Students will know
the “geography” of the course through syllabus. That means students will
understand the whole process of a course and know where everything is located.
Therefore, besides syllabus, I think it might be helpful for an instructor to
make a site map if that course is web-based. The structure of a course web site
can be visualized by a site map. The third one is schedule. I do agree
that the course should be laid out by weeks for students. All the details of writing
an online syllabus are explained in this chapter explicitly. I learned a lot. The
checklist for online syllabus on page 123 is very useful. I will definitely use
this checklist to examine my online syllabus.
The method Lisa presented in the workshop
is similar to the textbook. However, besides the things stated in the book,
Lisa also demonstrated how to make an online syllabus interactive and live in
Blackboard and Moodle systems. By adding hyperlinks on the syllabus, students can
access related course materials and class activities directly by clicking those
links. These hyperlinks look quite convenient and neat. I may consider using them
in my syllabus as well.
I like the notion of a "survival guide". It reminds me of Laura's suggestion in the video that the syllabus should be more of a living document than something that students consult only once or twice during a semester.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the hyperlinks seem to be a really great tool to help students navigate the course. I can't believe I never thought to utilize that technique before. I will definitely do so in the future.
ReplyDeleteRight, If the syllabus has the links and tools they need each week, they will be using the syllabus on a regular basis. Just make sure they can find it easily.
ReplyDeleteI like the site map idea. That's considered important in good web site design, and it seems like it would be useful for online courses.
As you know from my intro, I am not of the contract school. I believe a syllabus should be a learning too--something students can tap into every day they work in the class and find ideas, resources, and guidance that will help them succeed. That includes policies and calendars, of course, but we can do so much more to motivate them and help them if we steer clear of the contract analogy and its (false by the way) notions of legality. Just my two cents!
ReplyDeletethanks for this information. i satisfied & impress to your collection & online syllabus information
ReplyDelete