As incoming students anticipate in the new semester, they have to wonder what the course entails. Luckily, professors provide a syllabus in person to their students so they can bring it to class and keep track of the course schedule.
With Open Educational Resources (OER) becoming more prominent at Pierce College, students are starting to rely on the internet for doing coursework and managing classes. Canvas is being used by more professors each year so students can have access to all of their courses on a dashboard and help with multitasking various classwork with ease at home.
With that being said, students are more dependent now than ever regarding keeping up with their schedules and knowing what resources they need. A physical syllabus has become an ineffective way for providing the class curriculum to anxious students who must keep up with technological advancements. A hard copy of a syllabus can easily get lost or ruined, and making copies eventually adds up on the savings.
According to Southeast Missouri State University, Department of Economics, 80 percent of the students found that their learning experiences were indeed enhanced with the use of web-based instructional resources such as online syllabi and online tutorials. These students found that their attitudes, performance and interest in the subject increased with the use of OER.
More OER practices are being implemented around the Los Angeles Community College District to guide students into a new learning environment which can benefit their success.
A physical syllabus is a good asset to have when a student needs to take it out during class time, but a syllabus is deemed ineffective if it has been misplaced or damaged. Professors are switching to digital as an effort to ditch paper and be more environmentally friendly.
For students who prefer to be oldschool, infinite copies or screenshots of the syllabus can be kept on a phone with the press of a button. The angst of falling behind in a course will be lessened with the aid of online resources on demand at the student’s fingertips.
As the semester picks up the pace, time can always alter the original plans of a professor’s course curriculum. More often than not, changes need to be put on a course syllabus to adapt if the class gets more ahead or behind than planned. Confusion can be alleviated with the help of OER to update required changes to a syllabus and to alert students at any given time with online announcements.
Getting through a full-time semester is a daunting task, but students will have a better chance to meet their accomplishments under the form of electronic assistance.
