#29010
Can This Marriage Be Saved: IS an English Department a Good Home for Technical Communication? 
In partial answer to the many questions that have been raised about the definition and location of technical writing programs, a random sample of full-time teachers of professional writing was conducted. The results indicate that those located in English departments do not receive the respect and support they need. Those located in other departments are significantly more satisfied. Some strategies for improving the situation are suggested.
MacNealy, Mary Sue and Leon B. Heaton. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Academic>Education>TC>Professionalism
#19069
A Case for Adopting an Integrated Approach to Program Development 
In the last few years, both scholars and practitioners have considered the place of technical communications in relation to new information technologies. Most in the field agree that technical communicators bring a broad base of expertise, along with the ability to make a wide range of contributions to this realm. However, technical communicators still question the impact they might have and the roles and functions they might adopt in this area. In addition, they are still often plagued by an identity crisis brought on by a lack of recognition from other fields.
Blakeslee, Ann M. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>TC>Crisis Communication
#14131
Case Studies in Instructional Technology and Design
Multimedia cases allow novices and experts to explore issues and practice in instructional design. During the course of study in instructional design, often only a few design projects can be completed. Case studies serve as a valuable supplement, providing students with opportunities to experience and respond to complex practice issues in a variety of professional settings. In the process, students reflect on relevant theories and techniques as they attempt to understand a real problem, develop a response, and consider the potential consequences. Once each year, we sponsor a case event, and invite universities across the country to advance a team. Teams analyze the case, while experts pose probling questions, evaluate case responses, and contribute their own perspectives on the cases.
University of Virginia. Academic>Course Materials>Instructional Design>Multimedia
#15058
The March 1998 special issue of BCQ included 15 original cases for classroom use. We have now run out of the print version of the journal, but this site provides .pdf versions for your use. You are welcome to download and print these for your classes. Copyright for any other use of this material rests with the ABC. Listed below are links to supplemental materials for some cases. The materials include sample student responses to assignments (with identifying information masked) as well as comments on those samples and teaching and learning notes. The materials are not intended to be answers to case problems nor models of best practices but points for analysis and discussion.
Business Communication Quarterly (1998). Academic>Course Materials>Case Studies
#14234
Center for Information Society Studies: Call for Papers
A current list of CFP's from a variety of disciplines and professional groups.
#30482
The following regional STC chapters have established their own scholarship programs. Please visit the chapter Web sites listed below for more information.
#31952
Good evening — in this article I will aim to demystify the world of mobile web development, or in other words, developing web sites so that they will provide an acceptable user experience on mobile devices. I’ll run through how “the mobile web” differs from the normal web, the basics of techniques you can employ.
Mills, Chris. Vitamin (2008). Academic>Web Design>Wireless Web>HTML
#10143
Collaborative Learning and Cultural Reproduction in Cyberspace
Traditional notions of publication are clearly undergoing a massive change in the electronic age. New technologies, and internetworked communications in particular, have blurred the boundaries between the public and the private, the professional and the nonprofessional, the 'published' and the 'unpublished.' Many of us, as teachers in the humanities (admittedly amidst concerns about intellectual property, shifting configurations of literacy, and our own roles in a new paradigm) have embraced the promise of at least one form of electronic publication: publishing our students. It feels a bit awkward to objectify students in that phrase
Payne, Darin. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2001). Academic>Publishing>Online
#14269
Collaboratively Planning and Preparing a Memo 
A great deal of writing in the workplace is done collaboratively, and it’s important to get practice not only in writing, but in writing with others, which can be a very different process. In this exercise, you will write a memo collaboratively with another student, following the directions for assignment 1, text pages 153- 156, in Chapter 5 (“Collaboration in Workplace Communication”). You’ll also revise an information sheet.
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Collaboration
#18362
In today's global village, you will work with people whose cultural backgrounds differ from yours. Culture refers to the beliefs, customs, and assumptions that determine perception and behaviour. For example, residents of small towns and rural areas have different notions of friendliness than do people from big cities. Montrealers and Cape Bretoners talk and dress differently, as do people who live in Vancouver, Regina, Halifax, and Toronto. The cultural icons that resonate for baby boomers mean little to members of Generation X and Y. And gender culture often creates conversational incongruence between men and women. All human beings conform to a culturally predetermined reality. Part of Canadian cultural identity, for example, has been formed by our dual linguistic heritage and by the economic and military might of our southern neighbour. Geography, weather, population density, and natural resources also contribute to cultural reality. For example, the Canadian values of courtesy, community, and cooperation may have evolved as survival strategies in a vast, sparsely populated land. Perceptions about gender, age, and social class are culturally based, as are our ideas about race, ethnicity, religious practices, sexual orientation, physical appearance and ability, and regional and national characteristics. Regardless of your own cultural biases, however, your organizational productivity and individual professional success depend on your ability to communicate sensitively and flexibly with others.
Locker, Kitty O., Steven Kyo Kaczmarek and Kathryn Braun. McGraw-Hill (2002). Academic>Course Materials>Cultural Theory
#19064
While most academics are familiar with strategic planning (at least at a broad institutional level), many may be unfamiliar with the process of compact planning--a more narrowly focused, resource-driven planning model that can help programs identify and reach short-term goals. Because of the technological components of technical communication programs and the rapidity with which those components change and, consequently, affect our programs, shorter-term planning models may be particularly useful in helping our programs remain nimble, competitive, and distinctive. Further, since the compact planning process is a grass-roots initiative (rather than a top-down planning model), it is particularly effective at the program and department levels for its inclusionary properties.
Allen, Jo. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Academic>Education>TC
#25035
Computer Foundations for Instructional Multimedia
In this class you will learn the tools and design elements of multimedia for producing instruction on CD-ROM and the Internet.
Bisson, Mimi. San Francisco State University (2004). Academic>Courses>Instructional Design>Multimedia
#10503
Computers and the Teaching of Writing in American Higher Education, 1979-1994: A History
During the Fall of 1997, the authors participated in Electronic Discourse and Pedagogy, a course offered by Dr. Kris Blair at Bowling Green State University . One objective of this course called individuals (or groups) to lead facilitations based on assigned readings throughout the semester. These facilitations/presentations were to be informal and interactive. It was here that the authors presented the following timeline which was intended to accompany and expand the work done by Gail E. Hawisher, Paul LeBlanc, Charles Moran, and Cynthia L. Selfe in Computers and the Teaching of Writing in American Higher Education, 1979-1994: A History. This original facilitation involved a detailed discussion on the past, the present, and the future of computers in the classroom, as well as a road-trip to the LinguaMoo Mooloqium for moderated group activities. In preparation, the authors of this timeline compiled information from the text and used this information as a springboard for research which has come to be present
Wilferth, Joe and Paul Cesarini. University of Texas (1998). Academic>Computing>History
#20918
The goal of this course is to foster a sophisticated understanding of rhetorical situation, style and arrangement. Writing for the electronic medium with its specific demands should reveal by contrast material aspects of the practice of conventionalwriting that may have been taken for granted. Technologies encourage certain kinds of thinking and behavior and discourage others. Writing has always been one such technology. The World Wide Web is not the introduction of, but a shift in, technology. Students will analyze, conceptualize and create websites with HTML and graphics without the use of WYSIWYG helpers. WYSIWYG programs can make website development easy; however, we will stay close to the actual code in order to get a better understanding of the medium.
Levy, Matthew A. University of Texas. Academic>Courses>Computers and Writing>Web Design
#14853
A Concise Guide to Technical Communication Online: Instructor Resources
Instructor's resources for A Concise Guide to Technical Communication, by Laura J. Gurak and John M. Lannon. Among your choices are links to Web sites focusing on a range of topics related to writing and technical communication, including audience analysis, ethical issues in technical communication, layout and document design, web-site development, and research. Each chapter's resources also includes teaching tips and notes you can use to supplement your teaching materials.
Gurak, Laura J. and John M. Lannon. Pearson Education (1998). Academic>Course Materials>Undergraduate
#14852
A Concise Guide to Technical Communication Online: Student Resources
Welcome to student resources to accompany A Concise Guide to Technical Communication, by Laura J. Gurak and John M. Lannon. First select a chapter from the pull-down menu above. Once you have selected a chapter, you can choose from the left-hand menu a variety of resources to help you understand the topics covered in the text. Among your choices are links to Web sites focusing on a range of topics related to writing and technical communication, including audience analysis, ethical issues in technical communication, layout and document design, web-site development, and research.
Gurak, Laura J. and John M. Lannon. Pearson Education (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Undergraduate
#18933
Conduct an Analysis of Your Professional Language and Culture
Take any combination of the projects below and use them to generate data for a comprehensive report on the Language and Culture of your field. You will find one sample of such a document in the Models and Templates section of the web site. Study it closely, as it is a strong example of how such a report can be written.
Lannon, John M. Pearson Education. Academic>Course Materials>Professionalism
#10772
Conducting a Productive Web Search
There are two main types of indexes: those that are hierarchical (i.e. that lead one from a general topic to a more specific one) and those that list sources in some sort of order (most commonly alphabetical). The first type of index often contains a broad range of topics while the second are usually sources designed to address a particular topic or concern.
Purdue University (1998). Academic>Course Materials>Online>Search
#10381
#10140
Consortia vs. Reform: Creating Congruence
Margaret Landesman, the head of collection development at the Marriott Library, University of Utah, and Johann van Reenen, assistant professor and director of the Centennial Science and Engineering Library, University of New Mexico, discovered that two of the most popular solutions to the serials crisis may cancel one another out.
Landesman, Margaret and Johann Van Reenen. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2000). Academic>Publishing>Online
#14275
Constructing an Organizational Web Site
Many business people and scholars see computer-mediated communications as the inevitable future of business and technical communication. Certainly we are seeing meteoric growth on the Internet. Increasingly, companies are relying on computer-mediated communication for external and internal communication, and Web page design and construction are becoming more and more a part of what professionals do on the job. For this exercise, you will be working with a team to develop an organizational Web site.
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Web Design
#14335
As a writer, you need to know some strategies for developing the content for a writing project: what topics and subtopics to include, what to write about, how to think of material to cover concerning a topic.
McMurrey, David A. Illuminati Online (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Style Guides
#13547
Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication
This site contains a variety of information relating to the function, activities, and history of the CPTSC.
#13722
Courses for Technical Editors in Australia
I don't know of any tertiary-level courses in Australia specifically for technical editors, although there are several programs for general editors or journalists. I'll add information to this page as I find it.
Technical Editors Eyrie. Academic>Courses>Technical Editing>Australia
#19178
The following positions are open for application. If you have a position that you would like posted to the CPTSC web pages, please contact Bill Williamson at wj.williamson@uni.edu.
