1. SITE 2006
Enriching Online Syllabi for French Courses at the Click of a Mouse
Nathan L. Love
Western Kentucky University
(updated )

2. Engaging Students of French
Centrality of the online syllabus
Convergence of presentation, practice, assignments, assessments
Convergence of French texts, sound, visual elements of culture
Online syllabus as dynamic
Online syllabus engaging through interactivity
Online syllabus extending beyond itself, opening outward
It is nearly as easy as clicking a mouse now to create a multimedia online syllabus with rich sound, graphics, and with the universal appeal and access to the Internet, lack of imagination is about the only limitation.

3. Communicating with Students
Does dynamic online syllabus leads to communication?
Case of French Composition & Grammar
It seems to me that if the syllabus is a work in progress, constantly growing and taking shape, this process invites results in more frequent thought being given by teacher and student alike about the nature of the course and its trajectory.

4. Engaging Students of French
Centrality of the online syllabus
Convergence of presentation, practice, assignments, assessments
Convergence of French texts, sound, visual elements of culture
Online syllabus as dynamic
Online syllabus engaging through interactivity
Online syllabus extending beyond itself, opening outward
What I am doing amounts to displacing the textbook as the center piece of the course, and relegating it to one resource among many, most of which are most logically connected to a dynamic, progressive syllabus. See F102, Elementary French II.

5. Engaging Students of French
Centrality of the online syllabus
Handouts, PowerPoints, Worksheets, & Links
F102 Elementary French II
F325 Survey I French Literature
Although there are separate Web pages for Handouts, PowerPoints, Worksheets, Links, when relevant items on those Web pages are linked directly to the syllabus. The student normally goes to the syllabus first, and from the syllabus is sent to the item also found on one of the other Web pages.
Although there are separate pages for handouts, PowerPoints, Worksheets and Web links,
rather than advising the class to visit one of the separate pages, the relevant documents
are linked from within the syllabus.

6. Engaging Students of French
Centrality of the online syllabus
Convergence of presentation, practice, assignments, assessments
Convergence of French texts, sound, visual elements of culture
Online syllabus as dynamic
Online syllabus engaging through interactivity
Online syllabus extending beyond itself, opening outward
The syllabus allows for a convergence of presentation, assignments, practice, etc. even with a handouts page and a teaching statement page, that is not sufficient. 1. See for ex. Of presentation, PPT of ‘être’ for F102, for practice, clothes interactive for F102;

7. Engaging Students of French
Convergence of …
Presentation, (F102 Elem French II : IPA)
practice, (F202 Intermed Fren II : subjunctive)
assignments, (F328 Pronunciation : assigned)
assessments (F426 Fren lit 20th final exam)
Whether presentation, practice exercise, assignments, quiz or exam,
all are brought together at specific junctures on the syllabus. Frequent recourse
to the syllabus as a focal point has benefits.

8. Engaging Students of French
Centrality of the online syllabus
Convergence of presentation, practice, assignments, assessments
Convergence of French texts, sound, visual elements of culture
Online syllabus as dynamic
Online syllabus engaging through interactivity
Online syllabus extending beyond itself, opening outward

9. Engaging Students of French
Convergence of French …
texts, (F314 Intro Fren Lit: Victor Hugo)
sound, (F328 Pronunciation: poem)
visual elements of culture (F102 Elem French II : rôti de veau)(French literature courses and overview of French literature)

10. Engaging Students of French
Centrality of the online syllabus
Convergence of presentation, practice, assignments, assessments
Convergence of French texts, sound, visual elements of culture
Online syllabus as dynamic
Online syllabus engaging through interactivity
Online syllabus extending beyond itself, opening outward
The syllabus is dynamic. It changes, frequently! Students find themselves checking it repeatedly if for no other reason than to receive the assignment due at the next class meeting. The assignments are posted from day to day. Indeed, help for homework is not infrequently nested within the assignment link, so that the progression proceeds from syllabus to assignment to handout or PowerPoint presentation.

11. Engaging Students of French
Online syllabus as dynamic
Assignments added as we go
Nested help (F420 Composition) & activities w/in assignments (F202 Intermediate Fren II)
Format of approaching exams or quizzes (F426 Lit 20th)
Main syllabus entries for class w/ links to handouts (e.g. Descartes F426) & activities; F331 Business French Worksheet w/ sound
Posting feedback on quizzes; F102 Elem French II (dictée)
Posting grades (F102 Elem French II )

12. Engaging Students of French
Centrality of the online syllabus
Convergence of presentation, practice, assignments, assessments
Convergence of French texts, sound, visual elements of culture
Online syllabus as dynamic
Online syllabus engaging through interactivity
Online syllabus extending beyond itself, opening outward
One of the Key Findings of the survey conducted by Educase (ECAR Study of Students and Information Technology, 2005: Convenience, Connection, Control, and Learning) was “ Students who perceive instructors’ IT skills to be effective report being engaged increasingly in the course, being more interested in the subject matter, and understanding complex concepts better.”

13. Engaging Students of French
Online syllabus engaging through interactivity
PowerPoint w/ video & follow-up questions (F101 Motifs video)
PowerPoint w/ activity & elements of multimedia (F101 Motifs & vocab. of clothing)
Links to Internet (F102 & vêtements)
Quiz in HTML (F202 & Subjonctif)
PowerPoint for Lit course (F325 versification)
The syllabus is dynamic. It changes, frequently! Students find themselves checking it repeatedly if for no other reason than to receive the assignment due at the next class meeting. The assignments are posted from day to day. Indeed, help for homework is not infrequently nested within the assignment link, so that the progression proceeds from syllabus to assignment to handout or PowerPoint presentation.

14. Engaging Students of French
Centrality of the online syllabus
Convergence of presentation, practice, assignments, assessments
Convergence of French texts, sound, visual elements of culture
Online syllabus as dynamic
Online syllabus engaging through interactivity
Online syllabus as extending beyond itself, opening outward
One complaint about use of the internet is that since it lends itself so well to association of ideas, one may be distracted from the task at hand and become lost amid endless related links and pages. That “hyper card” situation can work to the advantage of the teacher, however. A student may see on the syllabus that we will look at Villon, only to click on the link and be off to a Web site with nearly Villon’s entire corpus. [F314 Villon]

15. Engaging Students of French
Online syllabus as extending beyond itself, opening outward
Interactive exercises on Internet: F102 Elem French II (passé composé ~ imparfait)
Seeing larger corpus of author: F314 Intro Fren Lit (Villon)
French historical sites as extensions of illustrations in readings: F323 Civ & Cult (1st day)
Listening practice: F201 Intermed Fren II w/ the BBC

16. Communicating with Students
Does dynamic online syllabus leads to communication?
The path of communication within the syllabus is often unilateral, from teacher to student only.
According to another Key Finding, of the survey conducted by Educase (ECAR Study of Students and Information Technology, 2005: Convenience, Connection, Control, and Learning) “ [The primary benefit of technology used in courses is convenience, followed by communication with the instructor and other students (connection), management of course activities (control), and improved student learning.”

17. Communicating with Students
Case of French Composition (F420): Grammar and reciprocal communication
Students submit compositions via & receive feedback via
Students view work of all; common problems addressed with computer projection in classroom
Students then resubmit

18. Brainstorming with You & Looking Ahead
More to be done with asynchronous & synchronous communication
Other ideas ?