iSyllabus: A “One-Stop-Shopping” Portal for Students

Yitna Firdyiwek, Faculty Consultant in IT at UVa

Trisha Gordon, User Support Manager, UVaCollab

Gail Hunger, Director of Instructional Design, UVa SCPS

Introduction

*Richards, Sylvie L. (2003) The Interactive Syllabus: A

Resource-based, Constructivist Approach to Learning

The Technology Source, July/August

…the “i(nteractive) syllabus”*

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Introduction

• Q1: Is the syllabus the best place to focus technology integration in teaching and learning?

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Introduction

• Q1: Is the syllabus the best place to focus technology integration in teaching and learning?

• Q2: How can we implement such an idea in the current Sakai 2.x environment?

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The iSyllabus…

• …an online document with links to resources and activities

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The iSyllabus…

• …is a single portal for students to access course information and materials.

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Typical Online Syllabus

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Typical Online Syllabus

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Typical Online Syllabus

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Typical Online Syllabus

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iSyllabus Site

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iSyllabus: Workflow

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iSyllabus: Tools

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iSyllabus: Templates

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iSyllabus: Template

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iSyllabus: Template

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iSyllabus: Links

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iSyllabus: Links

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iSyllabus: Links

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iSyllabus: Links

Activities

uploaded files

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iSyllabus: Tools

iSyllabus: Tools

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ARCHITECTURE

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Resource Browser

FC

K C

onnec

tor

(XM

L/J

SO

N)

(Javascript code added to Resource

Browser plugin for FCKEditor)

EntityBroker/EntityProvider

Resources

Assignments

Tests & Quizzes

Forums

Oth

er A

pplic

atio

ns

Ext

erna

l to

Sak

ai

(XM

L/J

SO

NP

)

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Resource Browser

FC

K C

onnec

tor

(XM

L/J

SO

N)

(Javascript code added to Resource

Browser plugin for FCKEditor)

EntityBroker/EntityProvider

Resources

Assignments

Tests & Quizzes

Forums

Oth

er A

pplic

atio

ns

Ext

erna

l to

Sak

ai

(XM

L/J

SO

NP

)Supplies direct connection to

activity items

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Extends the Resource

Browser to show activities

Resource Browser

FC

K C

onnec

tor

(XM

L/J

SO

N)

(Javascript code added to Resource

Browser plugin for FCKEditor)

EntityBroker/EntityProvider

Resources

Assignments

Tests & Quizzes

Forums

Oth

er A

pplic

atio

ns

Ext

erna

l to

Sak

ai

(XM

L/J

SO

NP

)

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Resource Browser

FC

K C

onnec

tor

(XM

L/J

SO

N)

(Javascript code added to Resource

Browser plugin for FCKEditor)

EntityBroker/EntityProvider

Resources

Assignments

Tests & Quizzes

Forums

Oth

er A

pplic

atio

ns

Ext

erna

l to

Sak

ai

(XM

L/J

SO

NP

)

Extends the item links to

external applications 2712th Sakai Conference – Los Angeles, California – June 14-16

Why Use the iSyllabus?

• Value for students:• clarity; efficiency; positive student experience

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Why Use the iSyllabus?

• Value for students:• clarity; efficiency; positive student experience

• Value for instructors:• site can reflect teacher purpose• workload reduction (when porting is completed)

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Why Use the iSyllabus?

• Value for students:• clarity; efficiency; positive student experience

• Value for instructors:• site can reflect teacher purpose• workload reduction (when porting is completed)

• Value for institution:• minimal cost (leveraging existing Sakai tools)• works with legacy/external applications

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• EntityProvider not available for all Sakai tools

Pending Issues

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• EntityProvider not available for all Sakai tools

• Sites not completely portable (yet)

Pending Issues

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• EntityProvider not available for all Sakai tools

• Sites not completely portable (yet)

• Steep learning cure for effective use

Pending Issues

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SITE TEMPLATES AND DISSEMINATION

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Site Templates

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2.6 Site Templates

• Using Sites tool, create a published site

with a site id that starts with “template”

• In sakai.properties, add a comma-

separated list of template site IDs to

site.template property

• For more details see:https://confluence.sakaiproject.org/display/WSSI/Home

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2.7 Site Templates

In the Sites

tool, set a

template=true property to any

site that will

function as a

site template.

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2.7 Site Templates

A new option will

appear during

Worksite Setup to

Create site from

template.

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2.7 Site Templates

Select the iSyllabus site template from

the drop-down menu.

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Site Templates

A syllabus item (included

in the template) displays a

set of brief instructions for

faculty in Draft mode.

Links to documentation.

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Dissemination to Faculty

iSyllabus User Guide

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Dissemination to Faculty

iSyllabus Video

Dissemination to Faculty

One-on-one sessions to help faculty get started

Announcement to

all instructors

who use

UVaCollab.

Workshops scheduled just

before each semester

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SCHOOL AND DEPARTMENTAL IMPLEMENTATION

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Individual Examples

• Activities grid example

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Individual Examples

Free form

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Next Steps

• Departmental/school site templates

• Branding

• Pre-selected tools

• Pre-loaded content

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Additional Sessions

• What is the Role of the Syllabus in a Course Management System? 1:45 Wednesday, Beaudry A

• Tech Demo – Wednesday evening at 5 PM

• Word-based iSyllabus via WebDAV

• Confluence and WordPress integration via “The Bridge” tool

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Contact Information

• Yitna Firdyiwek, yitna@virginia.edu

• Trisha Gordon, trisha@virginia.edu

• Gail Hunger, gmh6w@virginia.edu

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THANK YOU!

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