Web Based Syllabus TemplateEzra Krumhansl

Chief Information Officer

Selecting a solution

Faculty and course development staff requested a “user friendly” tool for creating a syllabus

After asking what was wrong with Microsoft Word, a search for potential solutions revealed very few options.

We looked hard at SALSA an open source solution developed at Utah Statehttp://salsa.usu.edu/. The code on github had some limitations and the professor behind SALSA wanted to charge for access to the source code.

Selecting a solution cont’d

We really did look at using Word and InfoPath and Sharepoint

With our list of requirements, we determined that we would have to build a syllabus software.

Some of the requirements we were asked to include were: pull course info from ERP, keep revision history, follow accessibility standards, and create archive of syllabi

Tools Used

Built on .NET in C# to run on a Windows Server

Bootstrap web design platform (http://getbootstrap.com/)

Text editor WYSIHTML http://wysihtml.com/

Connects to Ellucian using the Ellucian Web API to pull course information

Development and Testing

Many faculty participated in the development and testing

Faculty who came to “Collaboratory” – faculty course development center on campus – were used as pilot for developing syllabus

Usually faculty cut and paste information from old syllabus to Syllabus Assistant

A number of changes were requested during testing

Make It Feature Rich

After launching the Syllabus Assistant Site, many new features were requested: Impersonate a user Share editing with another person Tabbed Syllabus PDF Version of Syllabus Allow users to create templates Copy syllabus forward to new course

Other enhancements

Password protection

Lengthen “time out”, some faculty left edits too long without saving so changes were lost We added a login prompt if a session timeout to pick up

where they left off There is also a warning about time out when it is

approaching

Other Considerations

Standardizing syllabi helps part-time faculty who have never created a syllabus

Students appreciate consistency in format

Creating a repository of syllabi will help with departmental and SACSCOC accreditation

Archiving syllabi will help faculty teaching a course for the first time or if a faculty member is replaced at the last minute

Login Screen

Home Menu

Icons

Sharing Syllabus

Create Template

Add Editor or Password Protect

Questions?

If you would like source code or have questions

Ezra Krumhansl

ekrumhansl@spalding.edu

502-873-4545