{"id":25849,"date":"2014-08-26T13:20:28","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T17:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/?p=25849"},"modified":"2014-08-26T13:20:28","modified_gmt":"2014-08-26T17:20:28","slug":"10-amazing-reasons-to-buzzfeedify-your-syllabus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/08\/10-amazing-reasons-to-buzzfeedify-your-syllabus.html","title":{"rendered":"10 Amazing Reasons to Buzzfeedify Your Syllabus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Beloit has released its annual mindset list<\/a>, about the things that this year\u2019s incoming freshmen take for granted (HT Inside Higher Ed<\/a>). #2 (that\u2019s \u201chashtag two\u201d for you old-timers) is particularly interesting for educators: \u201cSince they binge-watch their favorite TV shows, they might like to binge-watch the video portions of their courses too.\u201d I\u2019m giving students in one of my classes the means to do that this semester. There are others related to technology and habits, such as this one: \u201c\u201cGood feedback\u201d means getting 30 likes on your last Facebook post in a single afternoon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How do we as educators appropriately adapt \u2013 and adopt relevant\u00a0technology and vocabulary \u2013 so as to communicate effectively?<\/p>\n

One thought that struck me was that it might be appropriate to \u201cbuzzfeedify\u201d our syllabuses (don\u2019t use \u201csyllabi\u201d \u2013\u00a0syllabus isn\u2019t from Latin \u2013 and syllabodes<\/a> is\u00a0perhaps best avoided, since syllabus isn\u2019t an authentic Greek word either<\/a>).\u00a0For some reason, the folks at Beloit haven\u2019t figured out that they could call their mindset list \u201c55 Reasons Professors Won\u2019t Understand Today\u2019s Freshmen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buzzfeedification<\/a> is already a widely-used word. I blogged last year about what a \u201cBuzzfeed New Testament\u201d might look like<\/a>. Students are already familiar with headlines that grab their attention, and compared to that, a syllabus may just look like a mass of text with nothing that stands out.<\/p>\n

Perhaps I should include subject headings that are more akin to what one finds on Buzzfeed \u2013 such as \u201cSix Exciting Ways That Students Can Earn Points In This Class\u201d and \u201cThis Group of Students Was Guaranteed to Fail the Course \u2013 Read On To Find Out Why.\u201d And instead of \u201cProvisional Class Schedule\u201d I could go with \u201cCan You Spot The Three Times Class Won\u2019t Meet This Semester?\u201d<\/p>\n

Have any readers buzzfeedified a syllabus, or encountered a syllabus that was buzzfeedified? What do you think of the idea?<\/p>\n

And of course, one can always follow the lead of\u00a0their \u201cIf Movie Posters Were Honest\u201d headline and write \u201cIf a Syllabus Were Honest\u201d at the top of the syllabus\u2026<\/p>\n

\"keep-calm-and-read-the-syllabus\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beloit has released its annual mindset list, about the things that this year\u2019s incoming freshmen take for granted (HT Inside Higher Ed). #2 (that\u2019s \u201chashtag two\u201d for you old-timers) is particularly interesting for educators: \u201cSince they binge-watch their favorite TV shows, they might like to binge-watch the video portions of their courses too.\u201d I\u2019m giving […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":25856,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,42],"tags":[1093,1482,2014,2970,3686,4191,4452,4871,6372,7467,11988,12149,12150,12152,12154,13175],"class_list":["post-25849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-humor","tag-beloit","tag-buzzfeed","tag-college","tag-education","tag-funny","tag-greek-languages","tag-headlines","tag-humor","tag-latin","tag-mindset-list","tag-students","tag-syllabi","tag-syllabodes","tag-syllabus","tag-syllabuses","tag-university"],"yoast_head":"\n10 Amazing Reasons to Buzzfeedify Your Syllabus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Beloit has released its annual mindset list, about the things that this year's incoming freshmen take for granted (HT Inside Higher Ed). #2 (that's\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/08\/10-amazing-reasons-to-buzzfeedify-your-syllabus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Amazing Reasons to Buzzfeedify Your Syllabus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beloit has released its annual mindset list, about the things that this year's incoming freshmen take for granted (HT Inside Higher Ed). #2 (that's\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2014\/08\/10-amazing-reasons-to-buzzfeedify-your-syllabus.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. 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