Syllabus

From CLEW Wiki

Contents 1 Syllabus: Overview 1.1 What it does 1.2 Key concepts 1.3 Things to consider 2 Create/Add, Edit, or Delete a Syllabus Item 2.1 Creating/Adding a Syllabus Item 2.2 Editing a Syllabus Item 2.3 Deleting a Syllabus Item 2.4 Reordering syllabus items 3 Displaying a web page, PDF, or Word file for your syllabus 3.1 Display an external URL 3.2 Display an HTML, PDF, or Word file 4 Creating a syllabus 5 Reading a course syllabus 6 Related Articles

Syllabus: Overview

What it does

The syllabus is the official outline for your course. As an instructor, if you or your department has prepared an online syllabus already, you can direct the "Syllabus" tool to link to it. Otherwise, you can enter material to post directly to your syllabus. You can make your syllabus visible to the general public or just to members of your course.

Some features of a traditional syllabus are divided between the "Syllabus" and Calendar tools. Some instructors use the "Syllabus" tool to display the department's official online syllabus, and use the "Calendar" as a detailed resource for students.

Key concepts

Content format: You can use the buttons at the top of the editing window to format your content. The buttons supply any needed HTML tags. You can toggle between viewing these "HTML" tags in your content or not, and you may enter your own "HTML" tags instead of relying on the buttons.

Attachments: You can attach files from your Resources folders. For more information, see Adding, editing, or deleting a Syllabus item.

Things to consider

• You have several options for making web resources available. Before you link to a web resource, consider whether it would be better placed as a Calendar item (such as a topic for the week or a dated assignment), or as a resource in the Resources section.

• If you attach a file from one of your other sites (including your My Workspace), your site participants won't be able to view it unless you chose Display to non-members (publicly viewable) in that file's properties. For more information, see Making your Resources items publicly accessible.

Create/Add, Edit, or Delete a Syllabus Item

Creating/Adding a Syllabus Item

To add a syllabus item:

• Click Syllabus in the left menu.
• Click Create/Edit, and then click Add.
• Enter a title for your syllabus item, and then enter your content.

Note: To avoid formatting errors when copying from a Word document, save the document in Rich Text Format (RTF) before copying and pasting. The Text Editor (WYSIWYG) has several options that can help you avoid formatting errors; see Text Editor inset on the right side of this page.

• Choose whether to have the item viewable only by members of the site or by anyone (Public View).
• Under Attachments, you can attach a file from your local computer or from Resources, or specify the URL for a file on the web. For instructions, see Options for adding attachments.
• Choose whether you would like to have members of the site notified automatically via email when the item is posted.
• When you have finished adding your syllabus item, click Post to post it to your site, Preview to view it, Save Draft to save it as a draft, or Cancel to cancel.
• Click Update.

Editing a Syllabus Item

To edit a syllabus item:

• Click Syllabus in the left menu.
• Click Create/Edit, and then click the name of the item you wish to edit.
• Make your changes, and then click Post to post the item to your site, Preview to view it, Save Draft to save it as a draft, or Cancel to cancel.

Deleting a Syllabus Item

To delete a syllabus item:

• Click Syllabus in the menubar.
• Click Create/Edit.
• To the right of the item you wish to remove, check the box under Remove.
• Click Update.

Reordering syllabus items

In the "Syllabus" tool, you can reorder items by clicking Create/Edit, and then using the Move Up or Move Down buttons. To save your changes, click Update.

Displaying a web page, PDF, or Word file for your syllabus

You can direct your course site or project site's syllabus to an HTML, PDF, or Microsoft Word file that you have uploaded to the Resources section, or to an external URL. To redirect your syllabus:

• Click the title of your project site or course site to enter it.
• If you do not see the "Syllabus" tool in the left menu, you must add it to your site; see Adding or Removing Tools from your Site.
• You can display an external web page for your syllabus. Alternatively, you can display an HTML, PDF, or Word file that you have posted to the "Resources" section. Follow the appropriate steps below:

Display an external URL

To display an external URL, such as a web page on your department's server:

• From the left menu, click Syllabus.
• Click Create/Edit, and then Redirect.
• In the "URL" field, type the "URL" for the page you wish to display as your syllabus.
• Click Save.

Display an HTML, PDF, or Word file

To display an HTML, PDF, or Microsoft Word file that you have posted to the Resources section:

• Upload your file to your site's "Resources" section; see Adding a File for Viewing or Downloading in "Resources".
• After you have posted your file to your site, if you do not see a list of your resources, from the menu, click Resources.
• To get your file's URL, Right-click (for Mac OS or Mac OS X is Ctrl-click) the filename and select the copy command for your browser (⌘ + C on Mac OS / Ctrl + C on Windows)
  
• From the menu, click Syllabus.
• Click Create/Edit, and then Redirect.
• In the "URL" field, paste your URL (⌘ + V on Mac OS / Ctrl + V on Windows)
  
• Click Save.

Creating a syllabus

To display a web page or PDF file as your syllabus, see Displaying a web page, PDF, or Word file for your syllabus.

To create your syllabus as an item that you can edit from within the application, see Adding, editing, or deleting a Syllabus item.

Note: A PDF file as a syllabus will open a new window for Mac users using Firefox.

Reading a course syllabus

To view the syllabus for a course you're taking, at the top of the screen:

• Click the tab for the class.
• From the left menu on the left, click Syllabus.

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