Porter, Lynnette R.

Uses for Virtual Reality in the Workplace and Classroom

Virtual reality and game technology can be used in the technical communication classrooms and the workplace as well as the laboratory. Because our communication into the 21st century will take many "technical" forms, the technology, creativity, degree of interaction, and multimedia designs of virtual reality simulations should become part of our communication technology in the 1990s. Although hypertext, hypermedia, computer-aided design (CAD), and multimedia, multisensory training applications are becoming more common in the workplace, the concept of virtual reality has seldom been translated into practical applications that require business and technical communicators to have special skills. As well, advances in holographic information create exciting new educational designs for the future.

Teaching Students to Design Information About Difficult Subjects: Public Information About Pediatric AIDS

Advanced technical communication students analyzed information about pediatric AIDS that was designed for dtrerent segments of the public. They then produced individual projects for local segments of the university and surrounding community. Through this assignment, students learned the importance of community standards in designing accurate and locally 'acceptable' communication about a difficult subject.

Keeping Up with New Technologies: Professional Development for the Freelancer

Online documentation... usability testing... multimedia—new tools and processes to support these and other technologies flood the technical communications field. All technical communicators face the challenge of keeping up with these developments. Freelancers, however, face a special challenge: they must be prepared to use any technology and must provide their own training. In this panel, four experienced freelancers discuss proven solutions to the professional development challenge.

Theory and Research Stem Overview

The objective for this stem is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas so important to the advancement of our profession. Qualitative and quantitative research, theory testing and building, experimentation, and applications testing are foundations of our profession, and this stem offers one venue for consideration of, collaboration about, and discussion of new research ideas and methods. The Theory and Research Stem brings together people from business, industry, and academia for what we hope will be enlightening and stimulating sessions that promote additional research and theory building after the conference.

E-Mail in the Classroom Workplace

E-mail usage creates special concerns in education, and teachers must learn how to make e-mail a more effective tool. Students must be taught how to use e-mail for purposes other than informal communication and to evaluate sources of information gathered through correspondence. Although e-mail presents problems in how and what students learn, it also can foster international learning experiences, provide some students with a clearer method of expressing their ideas, and increase collaboration.

Web-Based Instructional Learning

You may not find all the answers to your evolving questions, but the authors throughout the book do a good job of analyzing relevant research questions, defining the current state of Web-based education, and suggesting areas for continuing research. The book comes as close as you'll find to 'everything you always wanted to know about Web-based instruction,' with its in-depth coverage of today's Web education issues and research.

ABCs of E-Learning: Reaping the Benefits and Avoiding the Pitfalls

I'm always skeptical when I first read the praise for a book, especially when a full page of testimonials is published just inside the front cover, as well as on the back. However, by the time I finished reading Brooke Broadbent's ABCs of E-Learning, I could've added my blurb of congratulations on a job well done.

Making the Grade, or How to Upgrade an Online Class

Because online technical communication classes, as well as classes with several online components, are no longer a novelty, teachers must plan coursework and technology use to better meet students’ needs. To improve my online teaching methods and plan future courses, I follow these guidelines: 1. Prepare students to use e-mail efficiently; 2. Prepare students to use the class chat room for meetings, office hours, and required discussions; 3. Maintain a flexible assignment schedule while enforcing the final deadline; 4. Help students gain access to computers; 5. Develop pleasant working relationships with technical support personnel; and 6. Develop course information for students with different learning styles.

Planning a Community: The Value of Online Learning Communities in Technical Communication

Businesspeople, faculty, and students can participate in learning communities in a variety of ways. Online learning communities provide benefits to individuals and the group, even if a community uses only low-tech communication tools. Learning communities are important because they create a human connection often missing in our Internet communication and allow people from diverse locations and backgrounds to share information and experiences. Effective learning communities celebrate diversity and create a supportive environment for members working toward a common goal.

Ten Ways to Improve the Business of Online Education

Online teachers must follow sound educational practices as they design courses for learners who have different personality types and learning styles. Educators also must develop policies suitable for adult learners. As online education becomes an increasingly competitive business, educators must develop marketable, high-quality programs that meet students’ expectations and set and maintain high academic standards.

Putting the Science into Technical and Scientific Communication Classes

Although programs and courses frequently are titled “technical and scientific communication, ” often the scientific part is shifted to the science classes many students are required to take. All technical communication students, but especially those who are targeting a career in scientific communication, should be made aware of scientific principles and practices that apply to technical communication. Educators might add information about technical proposals, empirical research reports, regulations, basic abbreviations and definitions of statistics, research methods used in the sciences, and the scientific style described in style manuals to the materials they regularly teach.

Research Techniques For Technical Communicators

Research in technical communication is similar to, yet often pragmatically different from, research in the sciences or the humanities. Researchers may gather information for practical writing projects and/or conduct long-term experiments to increase knowledge about a subject. They are required to use electronic media to discover printed sources, simulations, and demonstrations, yet they are encouraged to do much work 'on their own,' without electronic assistance. To work within technology, science, and communication, technical communicators need to develop a variety of qualitative and quantitative research skills.

Technical Editing and Online Information: Features, Formatting and Friendliness

Editing online information requires technical editors to modify their editing practices and become more involved in the information-design process.