The Liquid Syllabus: Are You Ready?

by mcdarius CC-BY-NC

Liquid content refers to web content that is highly shared - where the desire for sharing is driven by contagious or 'viral ideas' within the content. OK, ok. Maybe a college course syllabus won't become viral (for good reasons) but what if a course syllabus could transform into a content experience that students really wanted to look at and engage with, as opposed to resource we dictated they "must read." Are we at the tipping point for this to happen?

Back in 2011, I wrote a post titled "Time for an Extreme Syllabus Make-Over?" In that post I explore the importance and value of the course syllabus to both instructors and students, ideas I still support. I also explored the value of communicating with students more visually than faculty generally do in higher education. This argument was contextualized in a brief reference to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and mentioned the general shift toward the visual digital media context our students toggle in and out of as they move between their formal (i.e. in Blackboard, Moodle, Desire2Learn, Canvas, etc.) and informal (in the open web -- YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, etc.) environments. That dichotomy remains -- if anything, visual content has become more central to an individual's informal learning as the ownership of smartphones has accelerated in recent years.

I've been reflecting a lot lately on this notion of the 21st century syllabus (and chuckling to myself that I would even use such a phrase). Three years ago, I found a visually compelling PDF to be cutting edge. Today, with so many students accessing content from smartphones, is a PDF the best format for a syllabus? I think not.  The syllabus should be a resource that could be easily accessed and bookmarked on a phone, not locked inside an LMS, and a resource that does not need to be downloaded.

I receive a notification in my email each time someone downloads the "Educator's Guide to a 21st Century Syllabus" that I shared back in 2011. And each time I receive one of those notifications, I am torn -- part of me wants to take that resource down, as I think it needs some serious updating, but I also feel it is helpful to faculty who may not be ready to leave the PDF format all together.

This is where digital media can really become transformative for a resource like a syllabus.
  
Here is my grand vision. Imagine with me. What if your syllabi were beautiful? What if they were a pleasure for students to engage with? What if they provided opportunities to not only understand and access policies, expectations, schedules and such, but for our students to meet us?  What if the syllabus became a site where former students could share voices (stories, feedback, words of encouragement) with future students? Isn't THIS what our goal should be as we move into this amazing landscape of mobile, digital media?

What if these syllabi were all open websites, as opposed to documents secured inside a Learning Management System, as so many are? Thiw would encourage sharing of ideas amongst faculty and students could bookmark them on their smartphones and refer to them frequently, on the go.

But beyond that, they could be linked to pre-registration experiences for learners. Why do students need to wait until after they register for a class to review a course syllabus? This has always made me scratch my head. Imagine if the registration process was truly student-centered and students could not only review the course syllabus but also experience a video from each instructor and any other creative resources designed into that syllabus.

Now we're talking.

Now you may be thinking, "I don't know how to make a syllabus like that" or "faculty at my institution aren't that tech savvy."  Well, you are wrong -- and I hope you take that as a challenge.

In the past year, many micro-publishing tools have emerged that facilitate simple creation of beautiful, captivating single-page websites.  They are perfect for making a liquid syllabus.  In past blog posts, I've referenced Populr, Smore, and Tackk -- and all three of them make great tools for creating beautiful, mobile-friendly course syllabi (or digital flyers that link to course syllabi)!

Below are a few examples of syllabi for you to explore that have been created with these micro-publishing tools.  I encourage you to view them on both a web browser and your mobile device, an important experiment for testing the value of new tools in our mobile learning society.

Populr.me

• Offers a robust ad-free account for educators, although you would never know it based upon the design and organization of their site. Populr.me offers institutional accounts too, which could be incredible transformational for faculty across the board, as the upgraded options included blocks of content that can be customized and updated from single point and pushed out into templates across the institution. While I have not used this type of account, I imagine this being a pathway towards supporting faculty syllabus creation by establishing a template with institutional policies plugged in, saving the faculty time and creating more consistency in the student experience overall.  Of course there are many other uses too like faculty pages, faculty training offerings, events, committee meeting notes, and more.
• How are you using Populr.me?

       Populr.me Syllabus Examples:

• History of Still Photography by me, Mt. San Jacinto College. I am happy to share the clone link for this syllabus with anyone who contacts me directly through my blog. :)  You'll notice that I, personally, choose to include a PDF at the bottom of my Populr.me syllabus so students who prefer the option to also print the resource have that option.
• English 102: Stretch Composition I - created by Stacey Anderson of CSU Channel Islands
• How to Humanize Your Online Class - created by me for CSU Channel Islands
• How to Design Your Online Course - created by me for CSU Channel Islands
• Designing Engaging Online Activities - created by me for CSU Channel Islands

Tackk

• Tackk is my newest find and we are becoming very happy together. I'm using Tack to create Unit Overviews for my online class (which I write about here and plan to blog more about soon).  Tackk does not have options for creating multiple columns but the user experience is lovely -- very simple and the content is beautiful. Each Tackk also has the option to include a stream at the bottom to which viewers may comment. Tackks can be embedded (adjust the height and width provided to make it larger and fit well in your LMS) and even when embedded, the videos play great on my iPhone and iPad (which I can't say about the same YouTube videos I embed directly into Blackboard...sigh). Customizable URLs are also built right in, which is nice!

       Tackk Syllabus Example:

• English 116: Critical Thinking & Composition by Tracy Schaelen of Southwestern College.

Smore

• I have not actively used Smore so it's tough for me to comment on its features. Smore offers educator accounts for $59/year and details are available here.
• In the limited use I have with it, it seems to have fewer layout options than Populr.me (which can be limiting for syllabus creation). Smore is marketed as a tool for creating digital"flyers." It is simple to use and the content you create is beautiful. Analytics are also included.
• How are you using Smore?

        Smore Syllabus Example:

•  Disabilities in Society by Jill Leafstedt at CSU Channel Islands. (I should note that this is an old syllabus of Jill's. After learning about Populr.me she made the move and started using it for her syllabus.

A Simple First Step To Becoming a Better Online Instructor

 

Becoming a more effective online instructor can be a daunting objective, especially for faculty who feel dazed and confused about today's technological landscape.  How does one take the first step and where does one begin?  I have one strategy to share that I think is manageable and certainly would work for any instructor teaching any discipline.

Two Key Characteristics for Effective Online Teaching
A critical characteristic of an effective online instructor is communicating clear expectations.  Another key objective is fostering a strong social presence in the online environment, which increases the important student-instructor relationship in the distance learning environment.  Audio and video technologies are the golden ticket for delivering rich social presence but they can also involve steep learning curves to learn new technologies.  The practical tip shared here will assist you with both of these objectives.

The Transition to Online
Effective communication can start to erode in the online environment because when faculty teach online is they are not typically empowered with a toolkit that allows them to transfer their full spectrum of face-to-face communications to the online environment.  For example, when you are in a class in front of students on the first day of class you likely spend time reviewing the major points of your course syllabus with them -- chances are you don't say, "Download the syllabus from the course site tonight.  OK, let's get started with our first lecture."  You know how critical that syllabus is.  You know your students' success largely hinges upon the criteria and requirements you have outlined in that syllabus, right?  So you take the time, not to read it to them, but to summarize important points on each page.  In fact, you probably do this with every major document you share with your students in class -- the assignment document that explains the criteria for the course research project, the exam details, the group project, etc.

When you teach the same class online, chances are you probably summarize these main overview points in text in your course management system near the link students click to download the document.  What your students are missing in this approach is YOU -- your vocal intonations that stress the importance of key points and a sense of who you are, your interest in your topic, your passion for teaching, or whatever unique quality is that you bring to your class. 

VoiceThread: Simple, Personalized Voice or Video Overviews of Your Documents
So, I am proposing a simple application of a web-based tool called VoiceThread that empowers you, as an online instructor, to simply upload your existing documents (.doc or .PDF ... but VoiceThread also supports image files like .png and .jpg, .ppt files, and video files too!) and record voice or webcam comments on each slide (simply by clicking "comment").  VoiceThread even provides the option to narrate or "Doodle" on any slide with your mouse, allowing you to circle and point out important areas of a page to your students.  The VoiceThread can be embedded directly in your course management system after it has been created so it will appear to your students alongside the link to download the document.  Click here to view a video demonstrating how to embed a VoiceThread in Blackboard.

The sample VoiceThread embedded at the top of this post shows one that I made by uploading a PDF of my course syllabus into my VoiceThread account (log in and click on the Create tab at the top of the page to get started).  For added help, you are invited to download my guide, "How to Create a VoiceThread," which walks you through the creation process and explains how to select from VoiceThread's privacy options: secure, semi-private, and public. 

If you listen to my comments at the start, you'll see that I use this in my online class not only to introduce my syllabus to my students but also to introduce VoiceThread to my students. I use VoiceThread nearly every week for a variety of activities and this first exposure to VoiceThread is merely an opportunity for students to be introduced to the interface in a non-threatening way.  They do not need to leave a comment; however, VoiceThread opens the door for students to comment (if I choose to enable the "comment" feature).  And this is another benefit of this strategy.  Not only are your students able to listen to your personalized overview of your syllabus but they can also leave a comment (in voice, video or text) on any slide.  This is the equivalent of an asynchronous or time-shifted raising of a hand in a classroom.

By the way, if you are new to VoiceThread, you can create an account for free and that free account will allow you to create up to three VoiceThreads which is enough to learn how to use the tool and assess its effectiveness for your class.  This application of VoiceThread is just a taste of its full potential; however. VoiceThread full range of possibilities are not explored until you begin crafting participatory learning experiences with your students and consider having your students create their own VoiceThreads to demonstrate key course proficiencies.

Meeting Diverse Student Needs
Finally, students would have the option to access any VoiceThread you create through any web browser or they could access/comment on it with the free VoiceThread mobile app (currently supports iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch...Android coming soon). Students who are blind and rely upon full screen readers would access the VoiceThread through VoiceThread Universal (an html version of VoiceThread).  The one important accommodation I have built into the development of this VoiceThread is the transcriptioning of my voice comments so they are accessible to students who are hearing impaired.  I have done this by using VoiceThread's text comment feature.  I have also set up an alternative VoiceThread identity which I toggle to before posting the transcript of my audio comment.  This creates a visual marker to students who may need or prefer the text option. 

Keep Learning...
If you'd like to learn more about teaching with VoiceThread, join me for my free monthly VoiceThread webinar series.  Click here to read about the next webinar and view archives of past events.