Pro: Open a word processor to type all the reasons you can think of for putting your syllabus into your college web folder and linking to it from your top page of contact info. and bio. Click here to see lists done by previous workshop participants.
Con: List as many reasons as you can think of against putting your syllabus at your college web site.
Compare and Contrast:
- If you are in a PDO workshop, compare and contrast your lists of reasons with a nearby colleague for a few minutes before clicking either "Submit" button.
- If not, copy and paste your reasons into an email message to a colleague of yours who has placed his or her syllabus on a website, mention that you are considering doing so, and ask for advice.
Visit a Sample:
- At JSRCC
- an English 01 syllabus online (Hibbison)
- From the World Lecture Hall
- Chemistry 151 at UCI: This syllabus uses a cover graphic cleverly and color intelligently during the syllabus. As usuals, this course web is more than just a syllabus.
- Junior level computer graphics at Deakin University in Australia: Fancy is necessary in this case because the course teaches fancy, not basic, computer graphics. A 3-D heading and optimal use of tables characterize this page graphically, but the CONTENT includes links to a sample (old) test, resources students can use in their projects, online evaluation, and notes of two weeks in .pdf format--along with assignments and samples of student work from a previous year. (You have to click PROCEED at a disclaimer page to get to the course syllabus.)
Homework Challenge: Google for several samples of syllabi online to determine what percentage of your sampling uses words alone and what percentage mixes words, graphics, color. Besides graphics, look also at content to determine what percentage of the sampling uses rules only and what percentage add resources OR list for yourself what sorts of content are in those online syllabi.
Decide: Answer these questions:
1. If you put a syllabus on the Web this or next semester, for which course
will it be?
2. Would you use Front Page, Dream Weaver, or other webpage-making software
yourself, or would you seek help from a professional webpage designer and maybe
a graphic artist?
3. How will you add at least one illustration and at least one link to each page
so it won't be just text?
