Schedule Page

Most faculty include a course schedule in their syllabus, so why post it as a separate page? The number 1 reason is syllabus length.  Your syllabus for your online course is probably pages (and pages) long.  Students may read it in its entirety once at the beginning of classes and they may refer to it now and then for answers to specific questions, but if it's a 10 or 15 page document they may miss or forget important details.

It's also a very good idea to keep due dates and assignments in front of students as much as possible. Adding a Schedule page and linking it to the main/primary navigation bar helps you do that.  It also helps to keep yourself organized.  I print out the course schedule as well and make sure I refer to it regularly so I know what I am supposed to be doing in each course throughout the semester.  I am busy, students are busy.  It's very easy to forget something important when it isn't right in front of your face shrieking at you. 

A schedule page helps students keep their lives organized.  Go back to that students are busy comment.  Students have lives outside of class that they have to organize around.  If they know up front everything that is due in a course and when it is due they have a better chance of succeeding in managing their time.  I also recommend that as many assignments as possible be made available when the course begins.  Then you won't have to go in and reset due dates for the student who has to complete assignments early.  I know this isn't possible with all assignments, exams in particular, but the more you can make available for the entire semester the better. (I really liked the old interactive schedule pages of 10 years ago where all of the assignments were linked from the schedule page, but you can't do that in BB 8 unless you only want to link from here.)

Last, a schedule page helps you, the instructor, think through the rhythm of the course.  When are major assignments due?  When are minor assignments due?  When are students doing the reading and when are they discussing it?  When can you add flexibility and when is it imperative that students complete a task?

A schedule page helps everyone involved in the class stay organized an be more successful.

Example:

Course Schedule and Due Dates

This page summarizes all of the graded assignments, exams, and reading assignments for the course. I suggest that you print it out and post it at a location that is easily available. Also available See the Colorado Mountain College Website for the important academic dates for the semester. This includes the current Acadmic Schedule for Add, Drop and Withdraw dates. All assignments are described in detail in the course syllabus or on the unit assignments pages. If you have questions check there and/or send me an email. It is your responsibility to read and study the required chapters at least once during the assigned dates
NOTE: All assignments and discussions are to be completed by 11:59PM on the due date.
Unit	Reading	Assignments and Activities	Unit Dates
1	Chapters 1 - 4	Unit 1 Threaded Discussion Opens Feb. 28 Unit 1 Web Report Due (Mar. 10) Threaded Discussion Responses Due (Mar. 12) Exam 1 due (Mar. 13)	Feb. 28 - Mar. 13
2	Chapters 5-9	Unit 2 Threaded Discussion Opens Mar. 14 Unit 2 Web Assignment due (Mar. 31) Threaded Discussion Responses due (Apr. 2) Exam 2 due (Apr. 3)	Mar. 14 - April 3
3	Chapters 10-14	Unit 3 Threaded Discussion Opens Apr. 4. Unit 3 Web Assignment (Apr. 14) Threaded Discussion Responses due (Apr. 16) Exam 3 due (Apr. 17)	Apr. 4 - Apr. 17
4	Chapters 15-17	Unit 4 Threaded Discussion Opens (Apr. 18) Unit 4 Web Report avail. as a replacement for Units 1-3 Web Reports due (Apr. 21) Threaded Discussion Responses due (Apr. 23) Exam 4 due (Apr. 24)	Apr. 18 - Apr. 24
5	Chapters 18 & 19, 33 & 34	Unit 5 Threaded Discussion Opens Apr. 25 Unit 5 Web Report Due (May 5) Threaded Discussion Responses due (May 7) Exam 5 due (May 8)	Apr. 25 - May 8
NOTE: All assignments and discussions are to be completed by 11:55 PM on the due date.