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Abstract
Course: Online or mediated communication courses.
Objectives: The purpose of this activity is to provide students with a more engaging way of immersing themselves in the course material through an interactive “Easter egg” syllabus. An Easter egg is an “undocumented function hidden in software … [they are] secret ‘goodies’ … used in video games, movies, TV commercials, DVDs, CDs, CD-ROMs and every so often in hardware” (PC Magazine [n.d.]. Definition of Easter Egg. Retrieved from https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/42295/easter-egg). An Easter egg syllabus is guided by this mediated tradition through its inclusion of hidden embeddable audio and video clips to enhance student understanding of the structure of the class and its overall content, as well as adding a game-like component to student learning. By using the syllabus, students can take a more active role in their own learning and make connections between course concepts and the illustrations found in the Easter egg syllabus.
Notes
* A version of the paper was presented at the National Communication Association conference in Philadelphia in 2016.