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 Monday, June 9, 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.
• You should have purchased the course textbook already: 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.
• 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.
• Read through the rest of this page so that you know when assignments are due the rest of the week.

By Tuesday, June 10, at midnight

• 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"
• Please go to this blog post where you can introduce yourself. 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.

• Read Instructor Blog #1: Welcome to Technical Writing. Post a comment responding to, furthering, or challenging the ideas to the blog. The instructor blogs are designed to serve as short replacements for course lectures, to help explain course concepts, help you on projects, and articulate grading procedures. Please read them carefully and post a thoughtful response. In your response, you are welcome to challenge the ideas in the blog if the response is productive.

Reading: Thomson Handbook Ch 12: Writing For Business and the Workplace

• 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 Wednesday, June 11 at midnight

• In a new blog entry, post a Reading Response to Thomson Handbook Chapter 12: Writing For Business and the Workplace. For the response, post a blog discussing your expectations for the course and how you hope it will contribute to your academic and professional development. Make sure that reading responses are 300 words in length, and that they reference specifics from the reading. Don't forget to put your reading response in the "Reading Response" category. You can select your category from the list below the title of your blog. Posts that are not tagged will not be graded.
• Don't forget to post 5 comments of 100 words each to other student reading responses by tomorrow night. Your comments should be thoughtful and specific, referencing specifics from the post and building further on those ideas.

By Thursday, June 12 at midnight

• Read the project description for Project 1: Instructions Project. Email the instructor with any questions or post them on the FAQ.
• Don't forget to post 5 comments of 100 words each to other student reading responses. Your comments should be thoughtful and specific, referencing specifics from the post and building further on those ideas.

By Friday, June 12 at midnight

• Read Instructor Blog #2: Email. Post a comment to the blog. You can discuss ideas in the blog, or mention other personal or reported email horror stories (I encourage students to include links to other email debacles like those I list). Remember also that this blog establishes the email principles for the course which I expect students to follow in all emails with me and other students.

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 Monday, June 16, at midnight

• Instructions Project Step #1: Proposal Due. Post a proposal detailing your plan for the instructions project. This proposal should include what technical object your instructions will cover, what tasks and troubleshooting it will include, the images you hope to use, and the audience and context of use. Remember, this proposal is designed to persuade me that your idea is a great fit for the project. Don't forget to tag the post in the Project 1 category. Posts that are not tagged will not be graded.

By Tuesday, June 17, at midnight

• Read Instructor Blog #3: Technical Instructions. Post a comment responding to, furthering, or challenging the ideas to the blog.

• Reading: TH Ch 24 Using Visuals to Inform and Persuade, and TH Ch 25: Desktop Publishing and Graphic Design for Writers.

• Read The OWL Guide to Conciseness. This reading established the guidelines from concise writing that should be followed in your instructions and other writing for the course.

By Wednesday, June 18 at midnight

• In a new blog entry, post a 300 word Reading Response to TH Ch 24 Using Visuals to Inform and Persuade, and TH Ch 25: Desktop Publishing and Graphic Design for Writers. This response is uniquely interactive and asks you to do a little informal usability testing. Choose some instructions for a product in your home that you have never read. Operate the product by performing the tasks as they appear in the instructions - don't cheat or skip steps when you already know what to do. When you are finished, write about the experience. Where the instructions user-friendly? Why or why not? Where did you encounter problems? Then incorporate the reading and instructor blog. What design principles or elements did the instructions use or violate that affected your use? What did you learn from this experience and the reading that you will apply in your own instructions? Don't forget to put your reading response in the "Reading Response" category. You can select your category from the list below the title of your blog. Posts that are not tagged will not be graded.
• Don't forget to post 5 comments of 100 words each to other student reading responses by tomorrow night. Your comments should be thoughtful and specific, referencing specifics from the post and building further on those ideas.

By Thursday, June 19 at midnight

• Read Instructor Blog #4: Design. Post a comment responding to, furthering, or challenging the ideas to the blog. You may also post links to instructions you find online and explain how they embody good or bad design.
• Don't forget to post 5 comments of 100 words each to other student reading responses by tonight. Your comments should be thoughtful and specific, referencing specifics from the post and building further on those ideas.

By Friday, June 20 at midnight

• Continue working on instructions.

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

Week 3

By Monday, June 23, at midnight

• Instructions Project Step #2: Usability Test Due. Here's a chance for some informal usability testing of your instructions. Find a willing volunteer, such as a friend, roommate, parent, co-worker, sibling, etc, preferably not someone familiar with the object covered in your instructions. Provide them with your instructions and the object, and have them complete the desired task by following instructions step by step. Do not assist them when they encounter difficulties. Do take notes about where they seem confused, stuck, frustrated, or places where they skip a step. Then, in a 200 word blog post, describe how the testing went. Where did your instructions work well? Where did they fail the user? How did the user interact with your design? How will this inform your revision of your instructions? Don't forget to tag the post under the Project 1 category in order for it to be considered turned it.
• Read and comment on 2 other student usability blogs by tomorrow night.

By Tuesday, June 24, at midnight

• Read project description for Project 2: Employment Project. Post any questions to the FAQ.
• Continue working on the instructions. Final instructions due tomorrow!.

By June 25 at midnight

• Final Instructions Due! Post instructions as a .pdf attachment in a comment under the blog Final Instructions Turn-In. Don't forget to attach. Instructions not attached by midnight are considered late. (Remember, Drupal cannot accept .docx files or files over 5 mb).

By June 26 at midnight

• Read Instructor Blog #5: Getting a Job Sucks! Post a comment responding to, furthering, or challenging the ideas to the blog. You may share positive or negative stories you have about job searches as well.
• Find a job for the Employment Project. Consult the following sites:
• http://www.careerbuilder.com/
• http://www.collegegrad.com/
• http://www.job-hunt.org/
• http://www.truecareers.com/
• http://www.monster.com/
• Purdue Center for Career Opportunities
• yahoo jobs
• yahoo career fields

By June 27 at midnight

• Read Instructor Blog #6: Resumes. Post a comment responding to, furthering, or challenging the ideas to the blog.
• Read this fantastic Career Journal article by an HR coordinator.
• Read "A Glimpse and a Hook" and scan the corresponding comments.
• Read Writing Descriptions.
• Read the Purdue Owl's information on resumes.
• Revisit TH Chapter 12 on Resumes and Cover Letters.
• In a new blog entry, post a 300 word Reading Response to the above readings. In light of your career goals and the job you are considering, how do you want to portray yourself in your resume and cover letter? What kind of professional do you want to be, and what kind of employee does the company want? (consult the company website if possible). How will you use your resume and cover letter to portray yourself in a favorable light? Don't forget to put your reading response in the "Reading Response" category. You can select your category from the list below the title of your blog. Posts that are not tagged will not be graded.
• Post 3 comments to other reading responses by tomorrow night. (2 comments on Monday plus 3 tomorrow equals five for the week.)

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 Monday, June 30, at midnight

• Employment Project Step #1: T-Chart Due. You will create a mock T-letter, a new but growing genre in employment searches (see sample here), that aligns your skills with the company demands. In Microsoft Word, create a two column table. One one column of the table, list all the skills required by the company. In the other column, match your past experience with these requirements. In order to satisfy the company requirement, you must provide concrete institutional experience (work, school, volunteer job, organization, etc). So if they're looking for organization skills, you can talk about how you planned a fun run at work, but not about how clean you keep your room. Post the T-letter as an attachment to a blog. (Remember, Drupal cannot accept .docx files or files over 5 mb). Don't forget to tag the post under the Project 2 category in order for it to be considered turned it.

By Tuesday, July1, at midnight

• Read Instructor Blog #7: Cover Letters. Post a comment responding to, furthering, or challenging the ideas to the blog.
• Read Purdue OWL Cover Letter Quick Tips.
• Read Purdue OWL Preparing To Write a Cover Letter.
• Read Purdue OWL Writing Your Cover Lettter.

By July 2 at midnight

• Post a Reading Response to Tuesday's reading. Online, find two cover letter samples. In the blog, analyze the letters in reference to yesterday's reading, considering the following questions. Do you think they are effective? Why or why not? What specifically do you like or not like about each? What things do you want to model/avoid in each? Reference specifics from each letter and post a link or attach them. Don't forget to tag your Reading Response in the Reading Response category. Posts that are not tagged will not be graded.

By July 3 at midnight

• Post drafts of your resume and cover letter as an attachment to your own blog (this will allow other students to post peer editing comments underneath). Don't forget to attach. (Remember, Drupal cannot accept .docx files or files over 5 mb)

By July 4 at midnight

• Have a happy and safe July 4th weekend!

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, contact the instructor.

Week 5

Week 5

By Monday, July 7, at midnight

• Employment Project Step #2: Peer Editing Due! Choose two other student resumes and cover letters. Read them carefully and provide feedback in a 200 word comment below their blog post. Provide constructive feedback about strengths, weaknesses, and potential improvements in formatting, content, and design. Consider the resume and cover letter together and the impression they create for an employer. For this project, you are graded for giving, not receiving, peer editing feedback, but please try to make sure that everyone receives at least one peer editing comment. Don't forget to tag the post under the Project 2 category in order for it to be considered turned it.

By Tuesday, July 8, at midnight

• Read the description for Project 3: White Paper Project. Post any questions to the FAQ.

By Wednesday, July 9 at midnight

• Project 2: Employment Project Due! Post your resume and cover letter to the Project 2 Turn In blog. Don't forget to attach. Projects not attached by midnight are considered late. (Remember, Drupal cannot accept .docx files or files over 5 mb).

By Thursday July 10 at midnight

• Receive group assignments for Project 3: White Paper Project.
• Read Instructor Blog #8. Post a comment below the blog which extends or complicates the material in the blog. Please include any good researching tips you have as well.

By Friday July 11 at midnight

• Project 1 revisions due! Please post your revisions to the revisions turn in blog along with a comment that describes specifically what changes you made to the project. Revisions posted after midnight will not be graded.
• Meet online or email with your group to establish contact. Begin discussing the project timeline and how you will accomplish the steps.
• Create a Google Docs Account for your group.
• Don't forget to post a project log this week. Because not much work has been completed yet, your log can cover decisions made about how the group will divide up labor. This will be useful as a reference point later. Please post your project log in the Project Log category (untagged project logs will not be graded).

Check out Week 6. 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 6

Week 6

By Monday, July 14, at midnight

• Read Instructor Blog #9. Post a comment below extending or complicating the ideas in the blog.
• Read Sample White Papers.
• Read "Why White Papers Don't Work" (attached).
• Read "The Steak Behind the Sizzle".
• The group should send the instructor a short email which includes the software under discussion (Google Docs unless your group determines otherwise) and the organization that the white paper will target.

By Tuesday, July 15, at midnight

• Continue working on research posts.

By Wednesday, July 16, at midnight

• Project 3: Research Posts Due! Each group member should post 3 source annotations to their group research wiki. The posts should explain and summarize the source, provide a link if possible, and most importantly, describe how it might benefit the project. Each annotation should be 150 words in length. Update - now due by Thursday, July 17 at noon due to site outages.

By Thursday July 17 at midnight

• Continue work on group project.

By Friday July 18 at midnight

• Reading Response Due. Based on the sample white papers and readings, write a short guide to writing a white paper. Include a definition of the genre and the kind of readers it entails.
• Don't forget to post comments to all your group member's reading responses. That is your commenting requirement for the remainder of the semester. Please post comments by Sunday at midnight.
• Don't forget to post a project log this week! Project logs must be posted as individual blogs and tagged in the Project Logs category. Please post project logs by Sunday at midnight.

Check out Week 7. 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 7

Week 7

By Monday, July 21, at midnight

• Project 3: Draft Due! Post your draft as a pdf attachment in a new blog. Don't forget to attach (Remember, documents over 5 mb will not be accepted by Drupal). Please note that according to the updated Project 3 page, drafts for the white papers should be roughly 1500 words and the final should be 2000-2500 words.

By Tuesday, July 22, at midnight

• Read Instructor Blog #10. Post a comment below extending or complicating the ideas in the blog.
• No reading response this week, but look at TH Part 7 and 8. Choose a section or two to read that represents a part of writing that gives you trouble (concise writing, fragments, etc). Focus on applying the principles from the chapter to your revisions of your white paper.

By Wednesday, July 23, at midnight

• Project 3: Peer Review Due! I will assign each group another group's white paper to review. Each group member should read the white paper carefully and post a comment to the blog which evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the paper, focusing on possibilities for improvement. Consider scope of the paper, organization, accuracy, audience, and design. Each peer review comment should be 150 words in length.
• Group Assignments
• Group 1 reviews Group 2
• Group 2 reviews Group 3
• Group 3 reviews Group 4
• Group 4 reviews Group 5
• Group 5 reviews Group 1

By Thursday July 24 at midnight

• Continue work on group project.

By Friday July 25 at midnight

• Project 3 Due!. Attach Project Three to the White Paper Turn-In Blog.
• Project 2 revisions due. Attach revisions to the Project 2 Revisions Turn-in Blog.
• By midnight on Saturday, July 26th, fill out the Collaborative Project Evaluation form about the group project and e-mail as an attachment to the instructor (the form is a confidential evaluation of your and your team's performance, so do not post it to the site). Please be thorough, clear, and professional in your evaluation.

Next week, exam schedule is in effect. We do not have any final exams, so the course ends on July 26th when you e-mail in your Collaborative Project Evaluation form.

Week 8

Instructions Project

project summaryThis project asks you to design clear, complete, concise and usable instructions for an object or software you know well. The instructions should provide steps for completing important tasks with the object and include troubleshooting advice and appropriate warnings. Instructions will include relevant and sophisticated graphics and will be well-designed for a specific context of use. Successful projects will consider audience and usability, and will be effective enough to function in a professional setting.

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
• creating documents designed for specific purposes, locations, and uses

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
• creating readable, clear, and usable design

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

• collaborating with others to produce informal usability studies

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

• analyzing professional contexts
• conveying firsthand and researched knowledge to novice and expert audiences

deliverables

Step 1: Post a proposal to your blog detailing your plan for the instructions project. This proposal should include what technical object your instructions will cover, what tasks and troubleshooting it will include, the images you hope to use, the length of the instructions, and the audience and context of use. Remember, this proposal is designed to persuade me that your idea is a great fit for the project. (because Project 3 involves the use of Google Docs, I will offer small extra credit for those students who choose this software for the instructions project. Excellent Google Docs instructions produced by students will be used to provide the class with a user manual for the software. Additionally, students who research Google Docs for this project will be ahead of the game in Project 3). Step 1 is due June 16 by midnight.

Step 2: Perform an informal usability test of your instructions. Find a willing volunteer, such as a friend, roommate, parent, co-worker, sibling, etc, preferably not someone familiar with the object covered in your instructions. Provide them with your instructions and the object, and have them complete the desired task by following instructions step by step. Do not assist them when they encounter difficulties. Do take notes about where they seem confused, stuck, frustrated, or places where they skip a step. Then, in a 200 word blog post, describe how the testing went. Where did your instructions work well? Where did they fail the user? How did the user interact with your design? How will this inform your revision of your instructions? Step 2 is due June 23 by midnight.

Step 3: Create thorough instructions for your object. The instructions must include steps for completing some general tasks (installation, tutorials, key tasks, etc) as well as appropriate troubleshooting guides and warnings. The instructions must be well designed for context of use (the place where people will use them) and include usable graphics, appropriate fonts, and customized page size (in this regard, I forbidding students to use an 8 1/2 by 11" page size unless it is absolutely necessary. I want to see students avoiding the defaults in favor of uniquely designed documents). Instruction should be usable for novice audiences, but not insulting to experienced users. Final instructions are due June 25 by midnight

Completing Your Project: By June 25, post your final instructions as an .pdf attachment in a comment to The Final Instructions Turn In blog. Include a brief description that explains and contextualizes the attachments. Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process.

grading

The Instructions Project is worth 20% of your course grade. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows: Step 1: Proposal (10%); Step 2: Usability Testing (20%); Step 3: Instructions (70%)

grading criteria

When grading your project, your instructor will pay particular attention to see whether you have effectively adapted your instructions to a specific context and audience. Your writing will need to be precise, accurate, concise, clear, and well-suited to the context of use and to the rhetorical occasion. The instructions must be specifically designed with usability in mind, including graphics, font, size, and layout. As always, your work must be good enough to function in a professional context in order to receive an A.

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.

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: T-Chart. Find a job that you are currently qualified for through one of the resources provided (or any other search engine). You will create an abridged T-letter, a new but growing genre in employment searches (see sample here), that aligns your skills with the company demands (when soliciting jobs, you would include an introduction and conclusion and place the T-chart in letter format. For this step, you will create only the chart as a brainstorming tool). In Microsoft Word, paste the text of the job ad, and then create a two column table. In one column of the table, list all the skills required by the company as stated in the job ad. In the other column, match your past experience with these requirements. In order to satisfy the company requirement, you must provide concrete institutional experience (work, school, volunteer job, organization, etc), so if they're looking for organization skills, you can talk about how you planned a banquet at work, but not about how clean you keep your room. You can leave blanks for qualifications that you can't provide specifics for, but if there are too many blanks, you probably aren't qualified for the position. Post the T-letter as an attachment to a blog. Due by midnight on June 30.

Step 2: Print-Based Resume. Your printable resume (one page in length) should adapt features drawn from the class readings 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. Your writing needs to be error-free, concise, and presented in an easily readable format. Draft due for peer review: July 3 by midnight. Your resume draft should be posted to your blog as a .doc attachment to a blog message that explains the nature of the attachment and invites peer feedback. 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. Final Resume Due July 9 by midnight!

Step 3: 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 2, your letter should be no longer than one page, following the suggestions and models presented in class readings and reading responses. You should submit the draft of your application letter to your blog for peer review by midnight on July 3. Your letter should be attached to a blog post that includes a cover note that follows guidelines for Eliciting Good Response and the .doc version of the 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.

Step 4: Peer Editing: Choose two other student resumes and cover letters. Read them carefully and provide feedback in a 200 word comment below their blog post. Provide constructive feedback about strengths, weaknesses, and potential improvements in formatting, content, and design. Consider the resume and cover letter together and the impression they create for an employer. For this project, you are graded for giving, not receiving, peer editing feedback, but please try to make sure that everyone receives at least one peer editing comment. Peer editing is due Monday, July 7.

Completing Your Project: By July 9, post your final resume and cover letter as .pdf attachments to the Employment Project Turn In blog. Include a brief description that explains and contextualizes the attachments. Read these directions for converting your documents to PDF format if you have any questions about the process.

grading

The Employment Project is worth 20% of your course grade. The breakdown for each of its components is as follows: Step 1: Job Ad and T-Chart (20%); Step 2: Resume (40%); Step 3: Cover Letter (40%).

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 3 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. Often, white papers are commissioned by an organization (a business, government organization, etc) to provide a quick summary on a complex topic so that leaders and decision makers can get quickly up to speed. Your future employer may say "Write me a white paper on biofuels (or open source technology, or the effects of new domestic policy, etc)" so that s/he can take it to a meeting and not look like an idiot. Because of this, white papers are raidable (easy to pull information out of) and strategically repetitive (crucial information in several places) so that a decision makers can reference it during a discussion.

For this project, each group will write a white paper about the business applications of Google Docs using Google Docs to compose the white paper (more introduction to Google Docs here). Groups may choose another open source technology to cover if they wish. 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.

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 3 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 information about Google Docs so that you can get comfortable with the genre and the topic. The point of the white paper genre is to represent the critically important information about a specific topic (such as a technology), its applicability, and its pros and cons, not to argue, sell, or promote (though those may be ancillary purposes)

Rhetorical Situation: The primary audience for your writing will consist of a specific institution (of your group's choosing) which is hypothetically interested in using Google Docs for writing and communication. 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 should be to provide essential information about the software and provide examples of how the software can address specific needs of the given organization. To accomplish this, you will need to perform research about both Google Docs and the writing practices of the organization that requested the white paper.

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.

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 logs. Each group member will keep a weekly project log on their individual weblog. See the guidelines for project logs. Due weekly from weeks 5-7
2. 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 group's research wiki. Resources should include a mix of professional, public, and scholarly sources. Each group member should post 3 source annotations to their group research wiki. The posts should explain and summarize the source, provide a link if possible, and most importantly, describe how it might benefit the project. Each annotation should be 150 words in length. Research Posts Due July 16
3. 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 roughly 1500 words. Following the first draft, you will receive peer feedback for creating the final draft. As you revise your white paper, you will work from higher order concerns (e.g., content development and organization) toward lower order concerns (proofreading and editing), with peer review focused on the major concerns. 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.
   • Showcase sophisticated and usable design/
   • Be carefully and fully cited and include a references section.
   • Be 2000-2500 words in length.
   • 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.
   The white paper rough draft is due July 21. The final draft is due July 25.
4. Peer Editing: I will assign each group another group's white paper to review. Each group member should read the white paper carefully and post a comment to the blog which evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the paper, focusing on possibilities for improvement. Consider scope of the paper, organization, accuracy, audience, and design. Each peer review comment should be 150 words in length. Peer review due July 23
5. 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. The Peer Collaboration Form is due as a .doc attachment in an email to the instructor by July 26

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 group grade will be determined from shared grades on the group portions of the project and comprises 60% of the grade along the following breakdown: Draft 10%, Final Draft 50%. 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. The individual portion of the project is worth 40% of your grade along the following breakdown: Research Posts 15%, Work Logs 15%, Peer Review 5%, Assessment Form 5%. Project 3 is worth 30% of your overall course grade.

Revision

h2>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)

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<