The traditional syllabus is a hard copy that instructors hand out to students at the beginning of the term. This is a legal document (at least in Washington state – the last state I taught at the college level). It meant that whatever was in the syllabus the teacher had to follow. Changes had to be explicit and communicated to all students. Students who were absent for whatever reason were the teacher’s responsibility to connect with about these changes with as well. It could be time consuming and there could be consequences if anyone slipped through the cracks.
For ease of navigation I made the format the same for every class, changing only cosmetics and content details.
For those who wanted an “at a glance” of the whole syllabus, the “course information” tab has all the information with the exception of daily activities and homework, and assignment details. These are referred to in course information. This is the tab I used while going over the syllabus on the first day of class at the beginning of each term. After doing this I showed them how to navigate.
The dynamic nature of the sites made it more effective to communicate with students, align with colleagues, and keep the process transparent.