A well thought out idea PandaMoOo. However I would be little wary when uploading syllabus without the instructor's approval.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PandaMoOo  The legality of the issue I think is relatively small because I will offer instructors the option of removing documents, and because they are paid by the government therefore their work is "public" and therefore is not copyrighted. (Or so I think... if others weigh in, that would be appreciated.) |
This comment is interesting. I'll see if I can get some feedback on this topic at another web board.
This additional feature offers much more than what the students can ask for. Able to learn in advance how the course is structured and how the schedule is layed out is outstanding.
I don't think uploading the actual quiz is a good idea. Discussing about the quiz is a different matter but letting students download corrected quiz could possibly lead into trouble. I know a few professors that reuse their materials from the previous quarters. I'd think twice about the quiz/exam document (unless you want a ThePolyPost.com frontpage exposure
). Even if you do allow the instructor to 'manually' remove the documents themselves, do you think the instructor would be aware that their exam materials are widely available online?
Personally, I would love to be able to download the syllabus of the classes I need in advance and I bet most students would too. And if the 'Course Documents' feature are to be implemented, I hope that many students do participate.
Unless an incentive was rewarded, scanning the syllabus and uploading the image file seems like a hassle, resulting in a tiny percentage of uploads.
Uploading pdf and doc syllabus is a matter of seconds so that's no problem.
If uploading and sharing instructor's syllabus is indeed illegal and an act of copyright infringement, you could seek the instructor's approval but that would require much time and effort in your part. Last but not least, CalPolyOnline.com does not condone any illegal activities such as sharing copyrighted materials online.
I wish you luck.