Getting Started 1: Registering on the Site

To get started with ENGL 421Y, you'll need to complete a few steps, which include

• Registering for the course website (here).
• Logging in for the first time.
• Editing your account for the first time.

Registering for the course website

1. Go to the course website.
2. Click on "create new account" under "User Login" in the navigation menu on the left.

   

3. Create a username that will identify you in the system and that you will use for logging in. Because this site is public on the Internet, your username should not include your last name. You are welcome to use any username (e.g., your IM screenname) that would not be offensive to others or otherwise inappropriate for a course website. Capitalize your username as you intend to use it; usernames are case sensitive.

   

4. Enter your email address. You may use your Purdue email address. If you have an alternate one, use the one that you check most regularly.
5. Provide your real name and home page URL (web address, if you have one). Note that your real name will not be visible publicly but only to students registered at the site.
6. Click on "Create new account." Registration information will be sent to the email address you listed, so check your email soon after you register. You will need the password that it sends you.

Getting Started 2: Logging in for the First Time

To get started with ENGL 421Y, you'll also need to complete this second step:

Logging in for the first time

1. You should have received an email from the system that includes your new password. With that email handy, return to the course website.
2. Enter your username and password in the "User login" box. Your initial password can be retyped or cut-and-pasted into the password box. If you cut-and-paste it, make sure you don't include any extra spaces before or after the password characters. The password and user name are case sensitive.

   

3. Click on Log in. When you've successfully logged in, you will see a block of links in the left sidebar with your username above it as a title. This is a navigation menu that provides you with links to many services and content on the site. If you are unable to log in successfully, try re-entering your password. Remember that usernames and passwords are case-sensitve, so make sure you don't have Caps Lock turned on by accident and that (if pasting in your password) that you don't include extra spaces. You may also request a new password if you ever forget yours.

Getting Started 3: Editing Your Account for the First Time

To get started with ENGL 421Y, you'll also need to complete this third step, which will take a bit more time than the previous two.

Editing your account for the first time

Once you've logged in successfully, you need to edit your account and provide some additional information about yourself.

1. Click on my account link in the navigation menu on the left.

   

2. On the next screen, click on the edit tab.

   

3. On the account settings screen, scroll to the Account information area.
   
4. Change your password by entering a new one into the password boxes. Choose a password that you can remember but that is secure. Remember that passwords are case sensitive.
5. Scroll to the Picture area.
   
6. Upload a picture of yourself or avatar (an image that represents you well) that you would use in a public context. You may have to find one and edit in an image editor, so you just try to have this step completed by the end of Week 2. If you need help editing an image, send a copy to your instructor for help. See Creating Avatars and Images for Your Profile for more information.
7. Next, scroll to the Theme configuration.
   
   
   
8. The default selection is will be checked. You can select any theme you like and all pages will show up with that theme. The default theme has been specially designed and will probably offer the most consistent display of all site content. The instructor uses that theme as the default and so designs pages with it in mind.
9. Scroll to Contact settings.
   
10. Check the Personal contact form box.
11. When you have made your changes, click on the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

The following steps ask you to complete information for your profile. This will enable the instructor and fellow students to learn a little more about you and help the instructor tailor this class to your background and goals, as well as arrange collaborative projects.

1. Click on the edit tab again, then on the Personal Information link at the top of the next page.
   
2. Enter the required information in the boxes. If you don't have a home page, leave that box blank.
3. Click on Submit to save.

That's it! You have completed all the steps of the Getting Started process. If you ever need to change any of the information, you can always edit these pages again.

If you have any trouble along the way, please be sure to let your instructor know.

Week 1

By ___________, at midnight

• If you have not done so already, read Welcome to English 421Y, Technical Writing (Distance Learning).
• Complete Getting Started 1: Registering on the Site
• Review carefully the Course Description, paying particular attention to all requirements. It is important that you become very familiar with the course policies so you can understand what is expected of you in this class. It might be best if you read through the course description twice; ignorance of the course policies will not be an excuse for failure to properly complete an assignment. Please do not fall behind on the first day. This course will proceed at a quick pace, so don't wait a few days to get going!
• Read Learning to Navigate the Site. Then explore the class website. Make sure that you login; some class website features are not available to guests. It'll be easier as we move forward if you take the time now to explore. Get familiar with where things are located, which links take you further into the class website and which take you outside to other resources.
• Read through the rest of this page so that you know when assignments are due the rest of the week.

By __________, at midnight

• Now that you have had a chance to read the course description and explore the class website, email your instructor with a note letting him or her know that you have finished registering for the course. Your email should include a subject line, a greeting, a short message, and your real (full) name. It is important that you complete this task so that you know how to get in touch with your instructor.
• Complete Getting Started 2: Logging in for the First Time and Getting Started 3: Editing Your Account for the First Time
• Review How to Post to Your Individual Weblog and then "How to Post Comments and Replies"
• The instructor will create a post on the course home page inviting everyone to introduce themselves. Post a comment to that post in which you

  describe where you are from
  give your course of study and year
  talk about your career goals
  tell what you would like to get out of this course
  share at least one thing personal about yourself (a hobby, your favorite sport, a favorite activity, etc.

• Reminder: As you work on assignments for this course, always read ahead a few days to give yourself time to ask questions about future assignments.

By __________ at midnight

• You should have purchased the course textbook by today: The Thomson Handbook (Comprehensive Edition), by David Blakesley and Jeffrey L. Hoogeveen. Boston: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2007. This book is available at local bookstores and may also be purchased online (e.g., through Amazon, here). You can buy the hardcover or paperback versions.

Reading

• Familiarize yourself with the content and structure of The Thomson Handbook. Scan the frontmatter (including the the table of contents) and the backmatter (the "Glossary of Web Terms" and the "Glossary of Usage") so that you know what the book contains.

Check out Week 2. No later than today, you should read through the course calendar for the following week. Make sure that you understand all of the assignments. If you have any questions, contact the instructor.

Week 2

Week 2

By ____________ at midnight

Employment Project

• Read the Employment Project description. You can ask questions about the project by adding a new comment to the assignment. Try to answer your own question before posting it too hastily.

Reading

• "Writing for Business and the Workplace" (TH, 217-220; TH is the abbreviation for The Thomson Handbook and will be used henceforth)
• Read the sample job ad and student response in The Thomson Handbook (p. 223-24).

By ____________ at midnight.

Peer Review

No peer review this week. We will begin peer reviews with the Job Ad Analysis in Week 3 , and continue with peer reviews throughout the semester.

Reading

• To support your understanding of this first major project, look ahead through Chapter 12 in The Thomson Handbook, "Writing for Business and the Workplace" (220-238). We will return to individual sections throughout the Employment and subsequent projects.
• Read Gareth's Tips on Sucks-Less Writing

Reading Response

• Post a reading response. Suggested Prompts: How might writing for the workplace differ from writing in college? Describe some of the important ways that writing functions in the workplace or other professional contexts. How do Gareth's tips help you understand these differences? Why do you think writing is such an important component of effective business practice? Since this is your first time, you'll want to follow the tutorial for using the class site software, How to Post to Your Individual Weblog. Use the tag "Reading Response" in the category field.

By F___________ at midnight

Employment Project

• Step 1: Skills Inventory, Job Description and Job Ad Analysis. Start this step by completing the Job Search Activity 12-1 (p. 221) in The Thomson Handbook. In a blog post, respond to each of the questions with a few sentences or a list.
• Begin research to find two job ads in your area of interest. Internships are good possibilities for some people. Review the Job Search Resources at the Professional Writing website and the Purdue Center for Career Opportunities.

Reading

• "Networking with Others on the Web" (TH, Chapter 28 , pages 621-40).

Continue posting comments and replies using Principles for Comments and Replies. Please follow the guidelines for effective blog responding as discussed in this chapter. You need five (5) for this week, so respond to reading posts that have been promoted to our front page. For reference on how to do this, review How to Post Comments and Replies. Your posts should adhere to the guidelines for networking in online forums listed in the Project Checklist (TH, page 627).

Check out Week 3 . No later than today, you should read through the course calendar for the following week. Make sure that you understand all of the assignments. If you have any questions, contact the instructor.

Week 3

By __________ at midnight

Activity

Using the resources listed on page 222 of The Thomson Handbook ("Using Print, Campus and Internet Resources"), find two job ads, produce an exact copy of each, then select one that you would apply for. Put the ads in a blog post (use cut-and-paste; provide a URL also if the ad has complex components that don't copy well). In a new blog post (tag=job ad analysis), complete the Job Ad Analysis form. Copy the questions into your blog post and then answer them.

Reading

• "Reading and Writing Email Effectively" (TH, Chapter 27, 603-20)
• "Boss's Angry Email Sends Shares Plunging"
• "A Stinging Office Memo Boomerangs" (if you get the free account at the New York Times)

Reading Response

Post a reading response by Wednesday at midnight. Suggested Prompts: You might also describe one instance when you sent an email message that worked wonders or that proved to be a huge mistake. What happened? Why? Which of the "Ten Habits of Successful Emailers" seemed to be missing? How does emailing differ from text messaging, and why do you think email is used more frequently in business and industry for project management? How might Gareth's tips apply to emailing?

By _________ at midnight

Peer Review

Write two responses to job ads and analyses posted to your peers' blogs. Respond only to posts that have no or at most one response. What aspects of the job seem most important to you? Which criteria will be hardest to meet? Does it sound like a good job to you?

Check out Week 4 . No later than today, you should read through the course calendar for the following week. Make sure that you understand all of the assignments. If you have any questions, contact the instructor.

Week 4

Week 4

By ___________ at midnight

Reading

• Read about the rhetorical concept of kairos ("the right or opportune time to speak or write") in Kairos and the Cover Letter, which includes some exaggerated approaches that you should avoid in your cover letters.
• Read "Preparing the Cover Letter" and "Parts of the Cover Letter" (TH, pp. 224-225).

By __________ at midnight

• Step 1 of the Employment Project should now be completed. Your weblog should contain your job search activity/inventory, your two jobs ads, and your job ad analysis.

Reading Response

• In a blog post, write a short cover letter that exaggerates an approach (or approaches), as discussed in the readings for Monday. Then write a few sentences about why this approach likely wouldn't work very well.

By _________ at midnight

Step 2 of the Employment Project: Post a draft of your job application letter to your blog by today. Your letter should be attached to a blog post that includes a cover note that follows guidelines for Eliciting Good Response and the PDF version of the letter. (Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process.) Use the tag "Job Application letter." Review the sample in The Thomson Handbook, p 225. Your letter should be context-specific and should contain the required five parts (heading, greeting, opening, persuasion, closing) in the format shown.

Peer Review

As cover letter drafts are posted, complete your Peer Review of Job Application Letters using these directions. You will need to complete two reviews.

Continue posting comments and replies using Principles for Comments and Replies. You need five (5) for this week.

Check out Week 5 . No later than today, you should read through the course calendar for the following week. Make sure that you understand all of the assignments. If you have any questions, email the instructor.

Week 5

By ___________ at midnight

Employment Project

Step 3: Drafts of resume due for peer review. Your printable resume (one or more pages in length, depending upon the type of job and the depth of your experience) should adapt features drawn from the samples discussed in class or available for review at the Online Writing Lab. It's critical that you shape your resume to the specific job or internship you have chosen to apply for (that it's suited to the context), so be sure to include only the relevant aspects of your professional experience. As in the Job Application Letter, your writing needs to be error-free, concise, and presented in an easily readable format. Draft due for peer review: Friday, September 21, by midnight. Your resume draft should be posted to your blog as a PDF attachment to a blog message that explains the nature of the attachment and invites peer feedback. Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process. You should also review the principles, guidelines, and resume samples in The Thomson Handbook (Chapter 12, pages 226-232). Pay special attention to the Project Checklist "Evaluating Your Resume's Content" and "Evaluating Your Resume's Design" on pages 228-229. Ask yourself these questions as you prepare your final draft.

Week 6

By ___________ at midnight

Employment Project Due

• Step 4: Project Assessment Document due: Submit a two-page overview and analysis of your deliverables and the process you used to complete them. Your Project Assessment Document should answer most of the following questions, each of which is tied to the major goals of the assignment. See the Employment Project handout for the full details of what's required.
• By tonight at midnight, you should post to your blog a cover note for your final drafts of your cover letter and resume. Your cover note should include links to your Step 1 and Step 4 documents as well. Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process.

Week 7

Assignments and activities for Week 7

Week 8

Assignments and activities for Week 8

Week 9

Assignments and activities for Week 9

Week 10

Assignments and activities for Week 10

Week 11

Assignments and activities for Week 11

Week 12

Assignments and activities for Week 12

Week 13

Assignments and activities for Week 13

Week 14

Assignments and activities for Week 14

Week 15

Assignments and activities for Week 15

Week 16

Assignments and activities for Week 16

Employment Project

During the Employment Project, you will learn strategies for seeking and securing employment or an internship, with particular attention to the documents people normally use to represent themselves and their prospects to potential employers. This project asks you to work individually, but there will also be chances for you to work with your peers to exchange ideas and feedback in your blogs.

project prompt and summary

Locate a real and specific job or internship for which you are qualified and prepare the application materials for it. If you already have a good job, find one that would be an advance for you, then prepare application materials for that position. Step 1 of the project asks you to learn about and use various web-based resources for job seekers and ultimately to select one real job to pursue. Step 2 asks you to prepare the all-important cover letter (i.e., "Job Application Letter"). Step 3 asks you to prepare a print resume suitable for such a position. In Step 4, you will assess your experience in a "Project Assessment Document." In the process of completing each step, you will work closely with your peers and your instructor to shape your writing so that it represents you and your experience fully and effectively.

project goals

This project emphasizes several important goals that all professional writers should bear in mind and that are consistent with those of the Professional Writing Program at Purdue. In the Employment Project, you will learn to shape your writing for very specific situations and purposes:

Writing in Context

• writing for a range of defined audiences and stakeholders

Project Management

• Understand, develop and deploy various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing documents both individually and collaboratively.
• Select and use appropriate technologies that effectively and ethically address professional situations and audiences.
• Build professional ethos through documentation and accountability.

Document Design
Make rhetorical design decisions about workplace documents, including

• understanding and adapting to genre conventions and audience expectations
• understanding and implementing design principles of format and layout
• drafting, researching, testing, and revising visual designs and information architecture

Teamwork
Learn and apply strategies for successful teamwork and collaboration, such as

• working online with colleagues

Research
Understand and use various research methods to produce professional documents, including

• analyzing professional contexts

deliverables

Step 1: Skills Inventory, Job Description and Job Ad Analysis . Start this step by completing the Job Search Activity 12-1 (p. 221) in The Thomson Handbook. In a blog post, respond to each of the questions with a few sentences, or a list. Then, using the resources listed on page 222 of The Thomson Handbook ("Using Print, Campus and Internet Resources"), find two job ads, produce an exact copy of each, then select one that you would apply for. Put the ads in a blog post. Then do some analysis and reflection, In a separate blog entry respond to the Job Ad Analysis form. Your skills inventory, job announcement, job ad analysis response, and cover note should all be posted by the dates listed on the course calendar.

Step 2: Job Application Letter. The job application letter is critical to your efforts to secure a job, perhaps as critical as your resume itself. For Project 1, your letter should be no longer than one or two pages (one is preferable in most cases), following the suggestions and models discussed during class. You should submit the draft of your application letter to your blog for peer review by midnight on ________. Your letter should be attached to a blog post that includes a cover note that follows guidelines for Eliciting Good Response and the PDF version of the letter. (Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process.) Use the tag "Job Application letter." See the Calendar for Week 3 for additional details. Review the sample in The Thomson Handbook, p 225. Your letter should be context-specific and should contain the required five parts (heading, greeting, opening, persuasion, closing) in the format shown.

Step 3: Print-Based Resume. Your printable resume (one or more pages in length, depending upon the type of job and the depth of your experience) should adapt features drawn from the samples discussed in class or available for review at the Online Writing Lab. It's critical that you shape your resume to the specific job or internship you have chosen to apply for (that it's suited to the context), so be sure to include only the relevant aspects of your professional experience. As in the Job Application Letter, your writing needs to be error-free, concise, and presented in an easily readable format. Draft due for peer review: ________ by midnight. Your resume draft should be posted to your blog as a PDF attachment to a blog message that explains the nature of the attachment and invites peer feedback. Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process. You should also review the principles, guidelines, and resume samples in The Thomson Handbook (Chapter 12, pages 226-232). Pay special attention to the Project Checklist "Evaluating Your Resume's Content" and "Evaluating Your Resume's Design" on pages 228-229. Ask yourself these questions as you prepare your final draft.

Step 4: Project Assessment Document: As you near the end of your work on the Employment Project (and no later than ________, prepare a 500-word overview and analysis of your deliverables and the process you used to complete them. Your Project Assessment Document should answer most of the following questions, each of which is tied to the major goals of the assignment:

Writing in Context
How did the particular job you applied for affect how you wrote your letter? Did it change or affect how you presented yourself? How did applying for this position help you understand aspects of your experience you might need to develop more?

Project Management
What was the most challenging document to produce and why? Briefly describe and explain one of the significant revisions you made to this document after your initial draft.

How well did you plan your work on this project? What might you have done differently?

Research
Which research resource proved to be the most beneficial for you? The least? Explain. What did you learn about the particular job field before composing your application letter?

Teamwork
What was one way that peer feedback helped you improve your work? How did responding to the work of others help you improve your own work?

Document Design
What is the most effective aspect of your deliverables in terms of presentation or design? Have you deliberately adapted a standard form in an unusual or creative way? If so, why?

Your Project Assessment Document is due when you turn in your completed Employment Project on ___________ by midnight.

Completing Your Project: By _________, post to your blog a cover note for your final drafts of your cover letter and resume. Your cover note should include links to your Step 1 and Step 4 documents as well. Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process.

grading

The Employment Project is worth 25% of your course grade. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows: Step 1: Inventory and Job Ad Analysis (20%); Step 2: Job Application Letter (30%); Step 3: Print Resume (30%); Step 4: Project Assessment Document (20%).

grading criteria

When grading your project, your instructor will pay particular attention to see whether you have effectively adapted your documents to the job for which you have applied. Your writing will need to be precise, accurate, and well-suited to the context (the job/field) and to the rhetorical occasion (in terms of tone, style, and content). In this case, a generic, catch-all resume and cover letter will not satisfy the requirements of the project.

revision

You will have opportunities to revise your work throughout the process and will be permitted to revise once again after receiving your grade on the project, subject to these restrictions: 1) Your revision should be substantial (a few fixes alone are not enough to raise a grade); 2) you turn in your completed revision within one week of the date it was returned to you with a grade; 3) you include submission notes that specify precisely what you did to improve your work, including whether or not you made use of the OWL's online or on-site tutoring.

White Paper Project

The focus of Project 2 is the white paper, a common report genre in the professional world. White papers are used in business, industrial, and governmental contexts to sum up the gist of what’s known about a subject. During this project you will learn about

• the white paper genre through collaborative creation of a white paper.
• new writing and communication technologies that support technical writing in college and industry, with attention to open source and other freely available software or writing spaces (online networks, blogging, etc.)
• collaboration, project management, and strategies for writing and revising.
• producing a text for the web in HTML that integrates visual content, such as screenshots, tables, and flowcharts

At the beginning of this project, you will be placed by your instructor into a group with fellow students. Each of the major components of this project will be completed in collaboration with group members. Individuals must also keep a project log at their course blog following these guidelines. Everyone will also be asked to email a peer collaborative evaluation form (Word format) independently to the instructor when Project 2 is due. To find out more about the purpose and form of white papers, review the discussion in The Thomson Handbook, Chapter 12, "Writing for Business and the Workplace" (pp. 235-36).

Discussion

Learning about the genre of white papers. You'll spend some time in the early part of the project reading sample white papers and about new writing and communication technologies so that you can get comfortable with the genre and the general topic. You will see that although you may not be familiar with all of these new technologies (or things like "open source") yet, you'll learn about it quickly. In fact, you already know much more about it than you realize since this English 421Y website uses Drupal, which is itself open source software. (You may be viewing it in Firefox, also an open source project.) The point of the white paper genre is to represent the critically important information about a specific topic (such as a technology), not to argue, sell, or promote (though those may be ancillary purposes)

Rhetorical Situation: The primary audience for your writing will consist of peers and other technical writing experts interested in finding out how new writing technologies can help their organizations in college or the workplace. A subsidiary audience is other people interested in these new technologies (the early adopters in the public sphere), even entrepreneurs who may see (or desire) new applications for these technologies for business, education, and enterprise purposes. The purpose of your white paper writing should be to provide essential and accurate background information and sources on a specifci topic for interested readers so that they are well informed and ready to make up their minds about the value or usefulness of a technology.

Writing That Matters : Students whose work focuses on open source software or technologies may be able to publish their work at the Open Source Development and Documentation Project. If your work focuses on writing and communication technologies, we will encourage you to submit your work to the professional writing program for showcasing on our resources website for subsequent use by future students, instructors, and the public. Your projects will also form the basis of your work for Project 3.

Project Goals

This project emphasizes several important goals that all professional writers should bear in mind and that are consistent with those of the Professional Writing Program at Purdue.

Writing in Context

• Write to the different levels of technical expertise of a range of audiences and stakeholders to foster technical understanding.
• Understand the ethical implications of working within the nexus of technology and culture.

Project Management

• Understand, develop and deploy various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing documents both individually and collaboratively.
• Select and use appropriate technologies that effectively and ethically address professional situations and audiences.

Document Design
Make rhetorical design decisions about technical documents including

• understanding and adapting to genre conventions and expectations of a range of audiences including both technical and non-technical audiences
• understanding and implementing design principles of format and layout
• ensuring the technical accuracy of visual content

Teamwork
Learn and apply strategies for successful teamwork, such as

• working online with colleagues to determine roles and responsibilities
• managing team conflicts constructively
• responding constructively to peers' work
• soliciting and using peer feedback effectively
• achieving team goals

Research
Understand and use the research methods and strategies necessary to the production of professional documents, including

• locating, evaluating, and using print and online information selectively for particular audiences and purposes
• triangulating sources of evidence

Technology
Use and evaluate the writing technologies frequently used in the workplace, such as emailing, instant messaging, image editing, video editing, presentation design and delivery, HTML editing, Web browsing, content management, and desktop publishing technologies.

Deliverables

1. Project proposal. Each group will do preliminary research, come up with an original topic, and submit their proposal as a "story" at our course website for class discussion and feedback.
2. Project logs. Each group member will keep a weekly project log on their individual weblog. See the guidelines for project logs.
3. Research posts. Each individual group member will, in coordination with the rest of the group, research in depth the group's topic and post their notes to their individual weblogs on the course website. For the research posts, everyone in the group should agree to use a common tag for the category (e.g., "Research on Google Docs")
4. Annotated bibliography. At the end of the research phase, the group will assemble a short annotated bibliography (including 6 critical sources) and compile and post the bibliography to a member's blog and tagged so that it shows up with the group's project documents (e.g., tag = Group 3 White Paper Project)
5. White paper drafts and revisions . The group is responsible for the timely creation of two drafts of the white paper. The first draft of your white paper should be 2,000-3,000 words + the annotated bibliography. Following the first draft, you will receive further instructions for a revision assignment for creating the final draft. As you revise your white paper, you will work from global concerns (e.g., content development and organization) toward local concerns (proofreading and editing), with peer review focused on the major concerns at each stage of the revision. The final draft of your white paper should
   • Demonstrate a good knowledge of the white paper genre.
   • Be rhetorically sensitive to the needs of the primary and subsidiary audiences.
   • Be well argued and supported by research.
   • Be carefully and fully cited and include a references section, in addition to the annotated bibliography.
   • Contain a consistent voice and style throughout.
   • Be free of proofreading and editing problems.
   • Follow the stylistic conventions for professional writing and writing for the web as covered in the course readings and discussion.
   • Be presented in HTML format and include relevant visual content to teach as well as illustrate concepts and information.
6. Peer Collaboration Evaluation Form. At the end of the project, each group member will provide a detailed evaluation of all of the group's members and submit the form to the instructor.

Collaboration

Successful collaboration will be a critical component of this project. Follow guidelines for successful collaboration as described in The Thomson Handbook (see and discussed in other course readings and messages. To summarize, you should

• Work collaboratively with the rest of the group in researching and drafting a white paper, including participating in any online group meetings and providing deliverables in a timely manner in the requested format.
• Follow good professional communication practices, especially in project and issue logs
• CC all group members on any email communication regarding the project (including contacting the instructor, unless of a personal nature).
• When assigned, provide detailed feedback to other groups on their projects/drafts.
• Conduct oneself in a professional manner in all group communication and when giving feedback to other groups.

Grading

Your individual grade for this project will be based the work produced by your team and the quality of your contribution to the project, as determined by your project evaluation forms and project logs. Project 2 is worth 20% of your overall course grade.

Supporting Readings from the Thomson Handbook

• Chapter 7, "Understanding Academic Genres" (123)
• Chapter 8, "Reading Critically" (131)
• Chapter 12, "Writing for Business and the Workplace" (217)
• Chapter 15, "Online Research" (289)
• Chapter 16, "Library and Field Research" (315)
• Chatper 17, "Using Information Effectively" (337)
• Chapter 18, "Research and Plagiarism in the Digital Age" (357)
• Chapters 19 and 20 (MLA and APA style) (377 and 443)
• Chapter 24, "Using Visuals to Inform and Persuade" (557)
• Chapter 29, "Writing and Rhetoric on the Web" (641)
• Chapter 30, "Designing Simple Web Pages" (659)
• Chapter 31, "Designing Complex Websites" (681)

Usability Study and User Documentation in Multimedia

For Project 3, you will work collaboratively in project teams on a client-based service-learning project that teaches you to manage complex writing challenges in real contexts that matter. You will learn principles of project management, collaboration, document cycling, usability testing and study, and client-based research. Because you will work with real clients--either in the community or online, you will also learn important principles of professional and ethical communication. The goal will be to start with the White Paper Projects produced already this semester and then, after user-testing and usability study, produce a user-guide that teaches a critical and (perhaps) complex application of the technology to an interested client. You will begin the project by thinking of and contacting clients who may benefit from having such your report, which will consist of several components, including a short multmedia, web-based presentation. For some background reading and context, review Chapter 29, "Writing and Rhetoric on the Web" (641) in The Thomson Handbook, which presents some information on usability and accessibility issues. See especially the "Accessibility and Usability Resources" on page 658.

Discussion

Learning about usability studies: You'll spend some time in the early part of the project reading about usability studies and why they're useful for testing and user documentation, in addition to the development and design process in any industry.

Building on the past: You'll use the white papers produced for Project 2 as your starting point and then select your topic as some specific aspect (use) related to it. For example, if a white paper focuses on Google Docs, you might propose conducting a usability study and producing user documentation for using that tool for collaboration in technical writing context, or about how to use Google Docs to produce good PDF files. Those white papers will give you a base to build on.

Rhetorical Situation: The primary audience for your writing will consist of client whom you contact at the outset of your project. Your goal is to produce user documentation, conduct a usability study, and then package and submit everything to the client as a report by the end of the project. You may also receive permission to include the white paper project that was your starting point. A subsidiary audience is other people interested in these new technologies (the early adopters in the public sphere), even entrepreneurs who may see (or desire) new applications for these technologies for business, education, and enterprise purposes.

Writing That Matters : As with Project 2, students whose work focuses on open source software or technologies may be able to publish their work at the Open Source Development and Documentation Project. If the work focuses on writing and communication technologies, we will encourage you to submit your work to the professional writing program for showcasing on our resources website for subsequent use by future students, instructors, and the public.

Project Goals

This project emphasizes several important goals that all professional writers should bear in mind and that are consistent with those of the Professional Writing Program at Purdue.

Writing in Context

• Analyze the invention, manufacture, and distribution of technologies in context and use writing to communicate these attributes in a variety of media and genres.
• Write to the different levels of technical expertise of a range of audiences and stakeholders to foster technical understanding.
• Understand the ethical implications of working within the nexus of technology and culture.

Project Management

• Understand, develop and deploy various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing documents both individually and collaboratively.
• Build professional ethos through documentation and accountability.

Document Design

• understanding and implementing design principles of format and layout
• interpreting and arguing with design
• drafting, researching, testing, revising visual design and information architecture
• ensuring the technical accuracy of visual content

Teamwork
Learn and apply strategies for successful teamwork, such as

• working online with colleagues to determine roles and responsibilities
• managing team conflicts constructively
• responding constructively to peers' work
• soliciting and using peer feedback effectively
• achieving team goals

Research
Understand and use the research methods and strategies necessary to the production of professional documents, including

• working ethically with research participants, subject matter experts, and technical experts
• locating, evaluating, and using print and online information selectively for particular audiences and purposes
• selecting appropriate primary research methods such as interviews, observations, focus groups, and surveys to collect data
• applying concepts of usability research, such as user-centered design

Technology
Use and evaluate the writing technologies frequently used in the workplace, such as emailing, instant messaging, image editing, video editing, presentation design and delivery, HTML editing, Web browsing, content management, and desktop publishing technologies.

Deliverables

1. Project proposal. Each group will do preliminary research on the available white paper topics already submitted, then propose a focus for their usability study and user documentation. The goal will be to submit a proposal as a "story" at our course website for class discussion and feedback. Your proposal should include client information.
2. Project logs. Each group member will keep a weekly project log on their individual weblog. See the guidelines for project logs.
3. Design and conduct a usability study. Build upon the models provided to create 1) individually generated usability studies, posted to individual blogs and tagged appropriately (e.g., "Group 3 Usability"); a compiled usability report that take each member's experiences/data and pulls them together to draw some conclusions.
4. User documentation. Using the usability research in Step 3, decide on the focus for the user documentation that the group will produce. Post the topic proposal/focus as a story to allow for group feedback. Make sure your topic is very tightly focused since good user documentation is highly detailed (if your focus is too broad, you're documentation will be too long to produce given our time constraints). In this step, you'll produce two drafts. The first draft will be text-only and no visuals. In the second draft, you'll incorporate visual content to support the textual content.
5. Short multimedia presentation for Web delivery. Use PowerPoint, Keynote, Captivate, or Connect to create short movie that would stand-in as viewable documentation. Adobe Captivate is available in Purdue labs. You also have access (from anywhere) to Adobe Connect, which is useful for capturing screen movements as a Flash movie.
6. Peer Collaboration Evaluation Form. At the end of the project, each group member will provide a detailed evaluation of all of the group's members and submit the form to the instructor.

Collaboration

Successful collaboration will be a critical component of this project. Follow guidelines for successful collaboration as described in The Thomson Handbook (see and discussed in other course readings and messages. To summarize, you should

• Work collaboratively with the rest of the group in researching and drafting a white paper, including participating in any online group meetings and providing deliverables in a timely manner in the requested format.
• Follow good professional communication practices, especially in project and issue logs
• CC all group members on any email communication regarding the project (including contacting the instructor, unless of a personal nature).
• When assigned, provide detailed feedback to other groups on their projects/drafts.
• Conduct oneself in a professional manner in all group communication and when giving feedback to other groups.

Grading

Your individual grade for this project will be based the work produced by your team and the quality of your contribution to the project, as determined by your project evaluation forms and project logs. Project 2 is worth 25% of your overall course grade.

Supporting Readings from the Thomson Handbook

• Chapter 7, "Understanding Academic Genres" (123)
• Chapter 10, "Reading Images Critically" (175)
• Chapter 12, "Writing for Business and the Workplace" (217)
• Chapters 19 and 20 (MLA and APA style) (377 and 443)
• Chapter 24, "Using Visuals to Inform and Persuade" (557)
• Chapter 29, "Writing and Rhetoric on the Web" (641)
• Chapter 30, "Designing Simple Web Pages" (659)
• Chapter 31, "Designing Complex Websites" (681)
• Chapter 32, "Multimedia Composing" (705)

Creating Avatars and Images for Your Profile

Some of you may be in search of an avatar or image to use in the profile that you created for yourself when you registered. If so, here are some suggestions:

An avatar is just an image that "stands-in" for your picture and can be an object, artwork, a photo, or something else that might convey some aspect of your identity, personality, or interests. So, for example, someone interested in biking might use an image of a bike as an avatar rather than a personal picture. The image works best if it's in jpg, gif, or png format, and the dimensions should be (about) 85x85 so that it displays correctly (and doesn't get squished when displayed, for example).

To find an existing avatar to use for free, you could look at a site like these. If you have a Yahoo! ID (free to get, if not), you can get some nice ones:

http://avatars.yahoo.com/

or try

http://www.avatarity.com/

You could also take an existing image of yourself and then create a picture by cropping out the part you don't want. If you haven't used an image editing program before, that can be a bit tricky. But if you have, just use the crop tool to draw a box around the part of the image you want to use, crop it, and then resize it so that it's about 85x85 pixels.

If you have a larger photo and would like help to make it into an avatar, send it to your instructor as an email attachment. Your instructor can help you from there.

Creating Hyperlinks

For this class, you'll have to learn at least one HTML tag, the one for making hyperlinks.

It's easy to learn. Check it out:

1. Make sure that your rich-text editor is enabled. Click on enable rich-text below the Body box.
2. Highlight the text you want to turn into a link.
3. In the buttons below the Body box, click on the chain link button.
4. This box should appear.
   
5. In the Link URL box, cut and paste your full URL there. Then click on insert.

Your link will now show up in your text.

Here is how you make links in traditional HTML coding. Still easy, but it doesn't show up with our rich-text settings and input format.

<a href=""></a>

is the tag itself without any information in it. Within the quotes, you'll put the url, or web address, for the site which you want to link to. In between the ><, you'll put the text you want displayed on the screen.

For example, the url for slashdot is http://slashdot.org/. And if you want to make the word Slashdot a link in a sentence to the website in a blog post, type in,

<a href="http://slashdot.org/">Slashdot</a> is a well known community blog site.

To get

Slashdot is a well known community blog site.

HTML is picky and it's easy to make a careless mistake. Don't include any extra spaces in the HTML tag. Make sure that you include "http://" as a part of your web address. In fact, one of the easiest ways to make sure that you get the URL correct is to copy and paste it from the address bar of a browser window currently displaying the page.

See? Not too difficult. But there's one more thing . . . .

Avoid merely posting the URL as a link:

http://slashdot.org

Notice how this doesn't convey much information. Better to have put the page title (often found either on the page or in the window bar at the top) or link to part of your text (think of the examples in this site). At the same time, really long URL's won't word wrap at the end of a line. They may cause problems with the way that text is displayed on web pages.

For review, check out Chapter 30 in The Thomson Handbook, "The Basics of HTML Coding" (p. 664).

Creating PDF Files

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format created by Adobe Acrobat and useful for sharing printer ready versions of documents. Unlike when files are shared between different productivity applications (i.e., word processing, spreadsheet) or different versions of the same productivity software, the same layout and typographic styles are maintained regardless of the computer environment. What the author sees when creating a PDF is exactly what the receiver of the file sees and can print out on their computer. Consequently, PDFs are particularly useful for sending resumes, cover letters, and other business documents where layout and presentation is critica. Writers want all of the effort they put into formatting professional-looking documents to be maintained.

PDFs are typically viewed using Adobe Reader (which is free to download). However, Adobe Reader will not produce PDFs. As you will soon be submitting drafts of cover letters, resumes, and other documents in PDF format, make sure that you can successfully generate a PDF using one of the following means:

• Adobe Acrobat Professional, Standard, or Elements are three versions of Adobe's productivity program for producing PDF files. These programs are not free and do not generally come installed when purchasing a computer. However, some public computer labs (i.e., most of Purdue University's main campus labs) may have Acrobat Professional installed. When Acrobat Professional is available, from your word processor or browser (or any screen that can be printed), select File -> Print. On a PC, you will be able to select, under Printer Name, "Adobe PDF" instead of sending your file to a printer. (See the figure below.) On a Mac, you will see a button "Save as PDF" on the print dialog box. In both cases, you will be asked where you want the created PDF to be stored.

  

• Adobe offers a free PDF trial service online. However, you may need to produce PDF's more than allowed by the free trial.
• CutePDF is a free application which you can download and install on your home computer.
• Google Docs: You can use these free applications (word processor, spreadsheet, and more) for collaboration and, conveniently, to export a document file to PDF format. (Upload your Word document, for example, then export it as PDF later.)
• OpenOffice is a free, full-featured, open source office productivity suite comparable to Microsoft Office that has PDF generation built in. From within OpenOffice, choose File->Export as pdf

Eliciting Good Response

Imagine the following scenario:

You have a great idea for a project for your department at work. Because it will require significant resources and funding, the senior manager in your department has asked you to prepare a ten-page proposal.

After working on the proposal for a while, the senior manager sends you an email requesting to see your draft in progress. The proposal is far from complete, but you fire off a reply saying "Here is my working draft," and attach it. The next day, you receive another email from the senior manager full of feedback which you are obligated to take. However, the feedback asks you to revise your proposal in new directions, quite contrary to what you had planned, effectively taking over the direction of the proposal. You now have to discard many good ideas you had for development. Those sections where you knew you needed the most help--they were not addressed at all.

This happens all the time in getting response to our writing. We get proofreading corrections when we need ideas; we get heavy revision suggestions when the draft needs to be proofread to meet a deadline.

To elicit useful and focused responses from readers (during peer review, for example), we must solicit good response. In the above scenario, if the writer had explained to the senior manager where she needed help in the draft and what her plans were for further development, it's quite possible that the feedback would have been more focused and helpful. So when asking for feedback on a document, explain to the responder

• your concerns about the current state of the draft (i.e., where, specifically, you need help)
• where you are in the process of drafting (i.e., ready to polish to meet a deadline, planning to do more revision)
• your target audience
• any plans you might have for further development of the text

Once you've defined your needs, your reviewer is more likely to shape their feedback effectively for you. As a reviewer, it's much easier to address the writer's concerns than to try to guess what might or might not be useful to the writer.

Five Steps of Storyboarding

1. Find or create a storyboard template that you can use to draft your outline, like the one attached to this post..
2. Each frame of your storyboard should represent a unique page, a step in a sequence, or some other individual component of your work (such as a PowerPoint or Keynote slide, a keyframe in Flash, or a Web page).
3. In each frame, identify your content. Use shorthand to describe the content (including images and audio) that you want to include and approximately where it should be placed, as in the example below.
4. Add notes to each frame in your storyboard on design, source files, material, and anything else that will help you remember what each frame should contain and how it should be presented.
5. When you have completed a rough draft of your storyboard, read back through it to see whether it has an order that makes sense and includes the multimedia you want to use. Move frames around as necessary.

How to Post Comments and Replies

Posting comments, as you will soon see, is easier than creating and sending an email.

1. You must be logged in to the site in order to post comments.
2. While you can click on the add new comment link on any post from the course home page, instead, first click on the title to access the full post and all comments. Always make sure you view the full post first. There may already be a comment conversation thread begun about what you are interested in discussing. Rather than starting a new thread, join in the existing one.
3. Choose add new comment to reply directly to the main blog post and start a new thread or reply to respond to an individual comment.

   If you don't see an add new comment link, you are most likely not logged in.

4. Enter a title for your post in the Subject field. Your title should describe the content of your post. If you do not enter a title, the system will automatically use the first few words of your comment post.
5. Enter the text of your comment in the Comment field. You may use plain text or some HTML. Some people may have the "enable rich text" link visible. If you use that feature, Drupal will give you a set of buttons much like a word processor's to help you input your message. Be careful to review your input, however, since this feature will do some strange things with your text on occasion.
6. Click on "input format" to learn about your formatting options. Drupal will use a filter to convert line breaks and URLs when you select "Filtered HTML." If you want to format your posts nicely, include images, or insert more sophisticated HTML, then choose "Full HTML." Generally speaking, leave the Input format on Filtered HTML unless you have used HTML tags other than those allowed.
7. Select Preview comment at the bottom of the page.
8. Always review what you have written in preview mode. You will not be able to edit your comment once you have posted it.
9. If you are ready to submit your comment, select Post comment at the bottom of the page. Don't forget this step! The most common way people lose posts is by forgetting to submit after previewing their comments or blog entries. If you have made changes to a post, preview it again.
10. Verify that your comment has been posted. It should be visible on the page. If something went wrong, try using your back button to get to the input screen. Review and resubmit if it's still there.

Note: You can use the Comment viewing options to change the way that comments are displayed on the page. Experiment with this feature and see which configuration works best for you.

How to Post to Your Individual Weblog

Posting to your individual weblog is a little more complex than posting a comment, but after a couple of times, you'll find it as easy as email.

1. You must be logged in to post to your weblog.
2. From any page on the site, choose the create content link in the main navigation block on the left hand side. That will bring you to the create content page. [You can also click on the blogs link and then the "my blog" sublink.

   

3. The first time you visit the create content page, read the descriptions under personal blog entry and story.
4. To post to your individual weblog, choose blog entry. This will bring you to the Submit blog entry page.

   

5. Review the Project Checklist in The Thomson Handbook on "Networking in Online Forums" (p. 627) to refresh your memory on posting successful weblog messages. (All of Chapter 28 would be a good review at this stage.)
6. Enter a good Title for your post.
7. Choose a Category tag for your post. You can use a standard one (like "Reading Response" or create one suggested in the prompt or that suits your content. You may use multiple tags.
8. Enter the text of your post in the Body field. You may use plain text or some combination of HTML in creating this post.
9. Leave the Input format on Filtered HTML unless you have used HTML tags other than those allowed.
10. Under URL path settings, you can give your post a short and unique URL alias. For example, you might want to use "team3projectlog" to identify your team's project log. If you use that URL, the full path would be something like http://digitalparlor.org/up07/420Y/team3projectlog.
11. Optional: If you need to attach a file,
    • Click on the File attachments link.
    • Use the Browse button to locate the file on your hard drive.
    • One you have located the file, click the Attach button.
    • A bar will show the progress of the upload . You should then see your attachment listed.
12. Choose Preview.
13. Review your post. If you make any changes, preview it again.
14. When ready, select Submit to post.

Notes:

• The system will not offer you a Submit button if you do not give your post a title.
• Choose story on the create content page to post to the course home page. The rest of the procedure is the same as for creating a personal blog entry.

Learning to Navigate the Site

For the first day of class, you'll want to explore some of the features of the site. This document gives an overview of a few features you might want to take a look at that will help you to navigate the site.

Navigation

In the header visible at the top of every page, you'll find one row of links:

• The first four take you to important sections of the course guide.
• The others take you to useful resource sites at Purdue.

Once you've logged in to the site, directly beneath the header on the left, you'll find the main navigation block, accessible from every page:

The navigation block is your gateway to many areas of the site useful for creating and viewing content and managing your work. For example,

• blogs
  Lists all the blogs on the site and includes a direct link to your blog in its submenu.
• create content
  From here you can post to your individual weblog or the front page (see How to Post to Your Individual Weblog).
• image galleries
  These are useful for uploading screenshots and other images that groups need to review and discuss.
• members
  Need to find out someone's email address? Use the members list. You can also click on any username to access the personal account page. Only registered users have access to the private portion of account pages.
• my subscriptions
  Our site allows you to "subscribe" to blog posts and other content so that you can keep tabs on follow-up responses. You can set your default subscription settings in my account > edit.
• recent posts
  This display allows you to access all of the recent content posted by everyone. Note how it provides red astericks to denote pages you have yet to read and notices of new unread comments.
• search
  Search the content of blog posts, stories, book pages, and galleries; also search for users by name or username
• my account
  Links to your profile information, site settings, and more. Adjust your account profile here.
• categories
  This function allows us to categorize all of our posts. By the end of the semester, there will be literally thousands of posts, and these allow some degree of organization. Later in the semester, we will use this same function to organize group spaces for Project 2 and 3.
• log out
  Use this to log out of the website, which is recommended after each session.

Book Navigation

All of our course materials on the site are integrated into the course guide:

The course guide is a hypertext with many levels of pages.

• You can use the book navigation links that show previous and next pages below the main text or use the breadcrumb navigation at the top.
• Use the printer-friendly version link beneath any page to get a text-only version of that page and all of its subpages collated into one. For example, if you go to the top page of the guide and click on printer-friendly version, you will see the entire course guide, including the calendar, on one screen (a very long one).

Principles for Comments and Replies

Because there will be no face-to-face meetings in this class, posting comments and replies to the reading responses and drafts of others will be the primary means of class interaction and discussion. Each time there is a reading response, the instructor will promote at least two blog posts to the front page of the course website. There, everyone will respond to and discuss the readings, drafts, or other work posted to our course website. The course description explains the purpose of this coursework:

You are required to post five (5) comments and replies (e.g., follow-up responses) each week to the blog posts (reading and other responses posted by others) appearing on our course's front page. Your comments and replies should be spaced out over at least three days. Each should be, at minimum, 100 words each.

All comments and replies to another's blog post should follow effective rhetorical strategies for networking with others on the Web. (Readings from the course text provide guidelines to follow.)

• Keep threads alive and relevant.
• Follow-up comments with further discussion.
• Think of your comments and replies as part of a lively class discussion in which everyone participates.

Our activity online substitutes for in-person discussion in interesting (and sometimes deeper) ways. Of course, you are always welcome, and encouraged, to post beyond thsese minimum requirements. The course calendar includes reminders about meeting this ongoing obligation for participating in class discussion.

When commenting and replying to blog posts on the course's front page, you are required to

• Read through the posts on the course home page referred to by the assignment.
• Before using the comment and reply features for the first time, you might want to consider reviewing How to Post Comments and Replies .
• Strive to be thoughtful and analytical in your comments.
• Try to find something new to say instead of saying what has already been said in the original post and in other comments already posted.
• Feel free to share personal experiences which shape your views on the topic discussed.

You should also

• Provide links to additional resources on the web which would better inform the discussion. You should always link to any other texts on the Web you mention, even those on the course website.
• Contend with and/or support the original blog post. If you are criticizing what the blogger has said, remember to do so respectfully, which encourages further dialogue. "This sucks" would not be an appropriate response. Neither would "That's great!" if you don't explain what you mean.
• Direct attention to related and relevant issues. You may find that none of the posts on the class website about a particular set of readings confront what you feel is an important issue on the assigned texts. As long as it is related to the general topic of the readings or the topic of this class, feel free to post a comment which turns the conversation in a new direction (use the subject line to clearly specify this new direction).
• Occasionally post to blog posts not on our front page. If you like, you may choose to post three of your comments or replies to any other recently submitted blog posting on the class site from the instructors and/or other students, whether or not those posts focus on the topic up for discussion.
• Use emoticons and acronyms to convey additional information (such as tone and intonation).
• Review Chapter 28, "Networking with Others on the Web" in The Thomson Handbook (p. 621)

For those of you wishing to do more than the minimum requirements of the course, you might visit the class website additional times per week and post new comments and/or replies to any of the blog posts.

Principles for Posting to Your Weblog

You'll do a lot of the writing for this class in your individual weblog space on the course website. You can access your weblog via your my account page.

One way to think of a weblog or blog is as a journal. However, unlike a journal that you might keep at home (as well as most if not all of the writing you have done in school before), your blog space is public. Your fellow class members will be invited to read your blog. Classmates will respond to your posts with comments and replies. Group members will review notes you take when doing research. And, of course, since it's on the Internet, other Web readers may encounter your writing and take a look at what you have to say.

There are many uses for weblogs, but we'll only use them for a few things here. During this class, you'll be asked to use your course weblog to

• share drafts of your work-in-progress for peer review
• keep a project log during Projects 2 & 3
• post research notes for Project 2 & 3

In addition to the individual weblog space that everyone has, the home page of our course website is a community blog space where anyone can post. While most of your blog writing will be posted to your individual weblog, we'll use the home page as a place to promote discussion among all class members. For example,

• When there is a reading response assignment, your instructors may promote someone's post to the front page for community discussion.
• Groups may be asked to lead discussion by posting their reading responses or blog posts to the course home page instead of to their individual weblogs.
• Groups may be asked to share proposals and progress reports with the entire class during Project 2 or 3.

Good Blogging Practices

• Titles for blog posts should reflect the context of what you have written, not merely restate the name of the title of the assignment or reading. Interesting and informative titles draw more interesting responses from others.
• Blogs should demonstrate the principles of writing for the Web as they are covered in this course.
• Bloggers link. Use hyperlinks when referring to another post on the public Internet and follow good attribution practices. Hyperlinks mean converting text to a link, not merely cutting and pasting in an URL. To do so, you'll have to know a little HTML for creating hyperlinks.
• People visiting the course website from the Internet won't know what you mean if you just mention "the reading assignment for today." Since PW Online is password protected, others on the Internet cannot access it. Treat it like a printed text. At minimum, you should mention the name of the text and the title of the chapter or section you are referencing.
• Good bloggers always keep in mind that they are writing for a public audience.

To Learn More

• To receive credit for your work, be sure to follow the course requirements for reading responses and project logs.
• Read Chapter 28, "Networking with Others on the Web" in The Thomson Handbook (p. 621)
• Optional: Read Meg Hourihan's What We're Doing When We Blog for a brief description of weblogs. For further reading on weblogs, take a look at The Weblog Webliography on Kairosnews.

Principles of Reading Responses

Each week, you will be responsible for creating a reading response. Each reading response should be specifically focused on the reading and the prompt provided on the calendar, clearly indicate that you have read and thought seriously about the reading, and be sufficiently developed. Reading responses should be 300 words or longer. Post your reading response as a blog entry and tag it "Reading Response" or use the tag provided in the prompt itself.

Sometimes, you and each of your group members will be assigned to post your reading response to the course home page by submitting a story. The posts on the course home page will then be the focus of full class discussion. Selected reading responses will also be promoted to the front page for more lively community discussion.

In composing your reading response you should:

• Be sure to focus your response on the subject of the prompt.
• Link your response to recent class discussions online, your current project work, something you might have read elsewhere, and/or previous professional, academic, or personal experience writing and communicating in other contexts.
• Discuss how the reading contributes to your understanding of the current project, expands your understanding of recent discussions, or suggests ideas for your work in the class.
• Be sure to properly cite the original reading and any other sources you might mention. Good citation practice is critical in all writing and especially so on the Web.
• You can apply the rhetorical considerations discussed in Principles for Posting to Your Weblog to your reading responses.
• When it is your group's turn to post reading responses to the course home page, consider that the goal of these blog posts is to share new information and stimulate discussion. If your group is reponsible for posting about an assignment, check to see if anyone has already posted a response on the reading. If so, read through it. Shape your blog post to take the conversation in different directions.

Project Log Guidelines

During Projects 2 & 3, you are required to keep a weekly project log and post it to your weblog on the course site.

Purpose

Because you will have a weekly record at the end of the project, your project log will help you to complete the Peer Collaboration Evaluation Form due at the end of each project. Project logs also provide evidence of each group member's contribution to the project. And detailed project logs lend more credibility to your evaluation of others in your Peer Collaboration Evaluation Form.

After college, you may find keeping a project log useful in your professional career:

• In the busy life of a professional, it can often be difficult to remember all aspects of a project when compiling monthly or quarterly progress reports.
• Consultants can use project logs to provide supporting evidence of work done on a project in preparing invoices or in case a client questions billable hours.
• Once a project is completed, a project log can be useful as a record for planning similar, future projects that will be completed by others.

Requirements

At least once a week during projects 2 and 3, post a short report to your weblog covering all of the following:

• Use informative titles (e.g., Project Log for Week 5: Project 2 Takes Shape)
• Tag your post with "Project Log"
• Report on the status of the project: Is it in early drafting? Is it production ready? Is your group conducting research? Etc.
• Record your contributions to the project that week.
• Record the contributions of others in your group.
• Record the time and date of group meetings and communication and describe briefly what was accomplished. Did the group have a large email discussion? Did you IM with another group member? Etc.
• Report on any scheduled plans for completing specific tasks in the project. What group members have taken on which specific tasks? What are the prospective deadlines?
• Plan out ideas for completing the project, including ways to collaborate and communicate more effectively with your group.
• Reflect on any lessons you have learned about collaboration and electronic communication.

Remember. Your project logs are public and can be read by other group members. Be diplomatic. Do not write about what other group members failed to do or negatively evaluate their participation. Simply record what others have agreed to do and the tasks which they have completed. You will have ample opportunity to assess the work of others at the end of the project.

You can of course post more than once a week.

Questions about Assignments (Ask Them!)

At some point in the semester, almost everyone is likely to have some questions and concerns about how to complete an assignment. In a normal face-to-face class, these questions might be answered in regular class discussion.

Because this is an online class, each week, one of the instructors will blog about the following week's assignments, inviting open discussion. If you have any questions or concerns, check out the most recent blog posting about assignments on the course home page. If your questions and concerns are not answered in the comments, post them to the comment board.

Know that all class members are encouraged to respond to questions--not just the teachers--so that we can discuss the assignments. If you can help clarify or answer any concerns of your classmates, please do so. Plus, participating in these discussions is one way to demonstrate more effort than just the minimum requirements of the class.

While some of you might think, "I'd r