Beginning in Fall 2005, continuing and new instructors will be encouraged to join one or more working groups that focus on an area of interest in technologies relevant to teaching writing at Purdue. These working groups will have a leader who is an expert on the subject and who will help coordinate hands-on, small group mentoring sessions that meet throughout the semester at a mutually agreeable time. The exact function of these groups will depend on the interests of the participants. For example, some working groups might meet every other week for a semester. Others might meet once a week for just a few weeks. Working Group leaders will introduce topics for discussion, but the primary focus will be on helping instructors develop course materials, sharpen skills with course or other technologies, and experiment with new software whose application might not be obvious quite yet. Working Groups are open to instructors and faculty in Introductory Composition and Professional Writing. Instructors may be in multiple groups and may join others once in progress.

Proposed Working Groups for Fall 2005 (with additional groups to be announced during the semester)

How Can You Join a Working Group?
Working group leaders will post announcements about when and where the first meeting will be on the PW-Staff mailing list. Instructors will be able to sign-up using a web-based form or by email. Once times and locations have been set, working group leaders will post that information to the Working Groups node on the PW website.

Can You Join More Than One Working Group?
Yes. Join them all if you'd like. You will likely see working group leaders attending other groups as participants also.

Is Working Group Participation Voluntary?
Yes. However, we encourage everyone to attend at least one just to keep up with the rapidly changing nature of the technologies we use to support instruction.

Can Anyone Be a Working Group Leader?
Yes and no. If you have expertise to share and believe that other instructors would like to learn from you, we encourage you to lead a working group. The time commitment would be limited to meeting times (weekly or bi-weekly) and for a limited duration. All session are hands-on tutorials, with the responsibility for bringing work to the sessions in the hands of the participants (with guidance from the leaders, of course. Contact Dave Blakesley if you would like to be a working group leader.

Additional Topics Under Consideration

• Multimedia Authoring
• Making TK3 Books (multimedia books)
• Making Multimedia User Documentation
• Digital Video Production
• Blogging
• Desktop Publishing with Adobe InDesign and Acrobat
• PHP Tutorials