Liquid Syllabi, Made Simple
Help students feel welcome before the first day of class. Simple Syllabus makes it easy to create a liquid syllabus with a personal introduction, clear course expectations, and mobile-friendly access, all connected to your campus systems.
Liquid Syllabus example
An animated illustration shows a course syllabus scrolling through overview, instructor, getting started, learning outcomes, and schedule sections. A companion phone view shows the same syllabus in a responsive format.
Helping over 5 million students feel welcome before day one.
Start with the student
What is a liquid syllabus?
A liquid syllabus gives you a public, accessible, mobile-friendly way to welcome students before class begins. Introduce yourself, explain your teaching approach, and share what students need for week one. It’s a chance to build a connection and help students feel prepared before they enter your classroom.
Simple Syllabus makes that easy with a ready-to-use template you can make your own. Add a welcome video, personalize your course information, and make support easy to find without learning web design. Share your syllabus inside or outside the LMS so students can get started even before they have course access.
The liquid syllabus concept was developed by Michelle Pacansky-Brock. Explore her work on the liquid syllabus.
A LIQUID SYLLABUS BUILDER FOR FACULTY
No web design skills required
Simple Syllabus gives you a ready-to-use template to introduce your course, share a welcome video, and help students know what to expect. Add your content, make it your own, and publish a mobile-friendly liquid syllabus without building a website from scratch.
Available inside and outside of the LMS
Your liquid syllabus, connected to your LMS
Simple Syllabus makes your syllabus available inside and outside the LMS, so students can explore course information with or without LMS access. It syncs with connected course content and publishes to a searchable syllabus library, helping students prepare before class starts and explore courses across campus.
START WITH A TEMPLATE. MAKE IT YOURS.
Make your syllabus your own
Content: Help students get to know the person teaching their course. Simple Syllabus lets you personalize your introduction, add a welcome video, and explain what learning with you looks like. Start with a ready-to-use template, then bring your experience, personality, and teaching approach into the syllabus.
FEWER BARRIERS TO LEARNING
Create a more accessible syllabus
Give more students a clear path into your course. Simple Syllabus includes an integrated accessibility checker to help you identify content issues as you write. Build accessibility into your publishing process and make your liquid syllabus easier for students to read and navigate.
See Who's Engaged
Know who's viewed your syllabus
Your liquid syllabus opens the door to your course. Simple Syllabus helps you see who’s walked through it. See which students have viewed the syllabus and which haven’t, giving you a clearer picture of whether your course welcome is reaching them.
LESS REWORK EACH TERM
A new term, no starting over
Keep the work you’ve already put into your syllabus. Simple Syllabus automatically carries your content forward each term, while dynamic blocks fill in current policies and course data. Your published syllabi are archived automatically, so there’s nothing extra to send or file.
FAQs on building liquid syllabi with Simple Syllabus
A liquid syllabus is an approach to course communication. Simple Syllabus provides the publishing and management tools to put that approach into practice.
Is a liquid syllabus a product?
A liquid syllabus isn’t a product. It’s an approach to syllabus design that helps students feel welcome, understand what to expect, and prepare for the course before it begins.
Can I create a liquid syllabus with Simple Syllabus?
Yes. Simple Syllabus supports public web access, rich content such as welcome videos, and customizable syllabus sections. Your institution’s template and site settings determine some of the options available.
What if I don't want my whole syllabus public?
The same syllabus can include public sections and restricted sections. Institutions can make the welcome and course essentials public while protecting selected materials behind sign-in.
How is a liquid syllabus different from a PDF or a Word Doc?
A liquid syllabus is a web page that adapts to the student’s screen, making it easier to read on a phone without pinching and zooming. PDFs use a fixed layout and often need additional formatting and accessibility work to support screen readers. A web format also lets you include videos, links, and interactive content directly in the syllabus.
Does the accessibility checker make all content accessible?
The integrated checker helps identify accessibility issues. Authors still need to review their content and provide accessible media and materials, including appropriate captions for videos.
Why use Simple Syllabus instead of a website builder?
Even an intuitive website builder asks you to make decisions about page layouts, navigation, and how content looks on different screens. Simple Syllabus gives you a ready-to-use structure built specifically for syllabi, so you can focus on your course and your students. Add your welcome, personalize your content, and publish inside or outside the LMS without designing and maintaining a separate website.
I already have an LMS page. Why use Simple Syllabus?
An LMS page gives you a place to share your syllabus, but keeping it current often means copying and pasting information from other systems. Simple Syllabus pulls in connected course data, reducing manual updates.
Access also depends on the course shell. When that shell closes or is archived, students may lose access to the page. Simple Syllabus keeps the syllabus available beyond the course shell, so students can return to it after the course ends.