#18477
As It Was in the Beginning: Distance Education and Technology Past, Present, and Future 
Many features of present-day Distance Education (DE) writing instruction would have been inconceivable when DE was first undertaken: On-demand instruction, nearly instantaneous content delivery, and virtual classrooms capable of facilitating real-time conversations between students on different continents about events that may have taken place only minutes ago, a half a world away. All of these things would have seemed as unlikely to early DE practitioners as holding classes on the moon, yet the many of the primary issues and concerns of twenty-first century DE, particularly with respect to the significance and effects of technology, have persisted throughout the many years of its existence. Now, as DE courses are being developed and carried out by an unprecedented number of university-level educators, it is time to reexamine the long history of DE in hopes of better understanding the ways in which seemingly revolutionary developments such as virtual classroom and e-mail collaborations have more in common conceptually with early iterations of DE than might be supposed. This work represents an attempt to identify some of those commonalities, with respect to both the ways in which DE technology has functioned in particular historical contexts and to their significance to the field of DE in a more global sense. It is hoped that through such investigations we will become better able to shape DE courses so as to take advantage of the functionalities of new technologies without losing the benefits of DE that have traditionally drawn students and teachers to it.
Fishman, T. Kairos (2003). Articles>Education>Online>History
#30698
As college instructors endeavor to integrate technology into their classrooms, the crucial question is, 'How does this integration affect learning?' This article reports an assessment of a series of online modules the author designed and piloted for a business communication course that she presented in a hybrid format (a combination of computer classroom sessions and independent online work). The modules allowed the author to use classroom time for observation of and individualized attention to the composing process. Although anecdotal evidence suggested that this system was highly effective, other assessment tools provided varying results. An anonymous survey of the students who took this course confirmed that the modules were effective in teaching important concepts; however, a blind review of student work produced mixed results.
Katz, Susan M. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online
#23244
Assessing the Credibility of Online Sources
Learn how to check a website's credibility.
Struthers, Kaaren. Webcredible (2004). Academic>Research>Online
#14245
Reviews briefly the systems that Gery presented in Electronic Performance Support Systems and then focuses on the 19 attributes she subsequently developed to elucidate them. Then examines the 1997–2001 competition award winners in light of these attributes. Doing so, it turns out, both clarifies the attributes and suggests a few new ones.
Marion, Craig. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Content Management>Online
#14268
Audience Analysis of a Usenet Newsgroup 
For this exercise, you will be working with and expanding on the concepts of audience discussed in the textbook by completing these preliminary tasks: · Selecting a Usenet newsgroup that discusses issues in your field · Writing and posting a relevant question to the newsgroup · Collecting responses to your question After completing these tasks, you will write a report in which you evaluate your success in adjusting your communication to your chosen audience. In the process of completing this assignment, you will gain a more sophisticated understanding of audience and get better acquainted with the kinds of interactions with professionals and students that are possible on the Internet.
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Audience Analysis>Online
#18790
Australasian Online Documentation Conference
Since the very first Australasian Online Documentation Conference in Melbourne in 1998, the conference has developed a reputation as the premier event for technical writers, help developers, Web authors and documentation developers from Australia and New Zealand. Our speaker list reads like a Who's Who of documentation, as we strive to ensure that experts in techniques and technologies are available to share their knowledge and expertise. The conference is also a great place to network with other documentation professionals.
#30388
Authoring for Electronic Delivery
Caterpillar is dramatically changing the way technical, product support information is authored. Book paradigms have been replaced by the more granular Information Element (IE) approach. The new integrated environment utilizes Unix based, TCP/IP connected, ECALS compliant tools on multi-tasking author workstations. Research data, in-process work approved IE's and relational indices are distributed to work group servers. Application software tools include a graphics editor and an interactive, context sensitive, SGML text editor. The environment is managed by a robust file management system that provides file tracking, revision control, workflow sensitive tool launching, burden planning and management reporting capabilities.
Hudson, Dave. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#10144
The Authority of Experience: Assessing the Use of Information Technology in the Classroom
It is a truism to say that the Internet has made many kinds of information more easily accessible to more people, but scholars in many fields are still trying to figure out how to deal with the consequences. Not only are professionals losing their monopoly over specialized knowledge, but the Internet also allows information to be distributed more widely and allows different kinds of information to flourish. On the Internet as a whole traditional forms of scientific knowledge are not privileged over individuals' reports of their own experience. Professionals often fight back against this trend.
Mack, Pamela E. and Gail Delicio. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2000). Articles>Education>Online
#24553
A Basic Guide to Power Blogging
Blogs (web logs, online journals) are nearly mandatory now. From presidential candidates and CEOs to avid hobbyists and local clubs, blogs are being used to share ideas and opinions. As the next new communications/community building/marketing tool beyond conventional web sites, blogs offer a more dynamic, timely, and personal interactive experience. Join over 4 million other bloggers by following these easy steps to Power Blogging.
Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Publishing>Online>Blogging
#20122
The first time you create a Windows Help file can be very confusing. This paper should help reduce confusion by explaining the basic WinHelp concepts and components, and then walking you through the procedure.
Van Sant, Carol J. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#20969
When she learned that I would be teaching a course in her department, the department secretary made a mailbox for me and made sure that I received a copy of every memo and announcement distributed to the rest of the faculty. Other part-time faculty appreciated this service, so it became a part of the secretary's standard operating procedures. But I never received the mail because the mailbox was in Crookston, Minnesota and I taught the course by instructional television (ITV) from St. Paul, Minnesota, approximately 350 miles away.
Carliner, Saul. Saul Carliner Studio (2003). Articles>Education>Online>Collaboration
#10191
Best Practices for Digital Archiving
The rapid growth in the creation and dissemination of digital objects by authors, publishers, corporations, governments, and even librarians, archivists, and museum curators, has emphasized the speed and ease of short-term dissemination with little regard for the long-term preservation of digital information. However, digital information is fragile in ways that differ from traditional technologies, such as paper or microfilm. It is more easily corrupted or altered without recognition. Digital storage media have shorter life spans, and digital information requires access technologies that are changing at an ever-increasing pace. Some types of information, such as multimedia, are so closely linked to the software and hardware technologies that they cannot be used outside these proprietary environments [Kuny 1998]. Because of the speed of technological advances, the time frame in which we must consider archiving becomes much shorter. The time between manufacture and preservation is shrinking.
Hodge, Gail M. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2000). Articles>Publishing>Online
#10869
Most tech writers have their favorite software for capturing and processing static screen shots. I won’t compare these applications or try to tell you how to use them. Instead, I’ll give you techniques that help you produce the best possible screen shots, no matter what application you choose. This article assumes that you’ve taken screen shots before. It uses terms like “hot keys” and “time delay” and “capture cursor.” If you don’t know what these terms mean, look them up in the help for your screen capture software. They represent standard features that are found in most screen capture applications.
Rice, William H. IV. Williamrice.com. Design>Graphic Design>Online>Screen Captures
#30714
Beyond Google: How Do Students Conduct Academic Research?
This paper reports findings from an exploratory study about how students majoring in humanities and social sciences use the Internet and library resources for research. Using student discussion groups, content analysis, and a student survey, our results suggest students may not be as reliant on public Internet sites as previous research has reported. Instead, students in our study used a hybrid approach for conducting course-related research. A majority of students leveraged both online and offline sources to overcome challenges with finding, selecting, and evaluating resources and gauging professors' expectations for quality research.
Head, Alison J. First Monday (2007). Articles>Education>Research>Online
#30717
Beyond Google: How Do Students Conduct Academic Research?
This paper reports findings from an exploratory study about how students majoring in humanities and social sciences use the Internet and library resources for research. Using student discussion groups, content analysis, and a student survey, our results suggest students may not be as reliant on public Internet sites as previous research has reported. Instead, students in our study used a hybrid approach for conducting course-related research. A majority of students leveraged both online and offline sources to overcome challenges with finding, selecting, and evaluating resources and gauging professors' expectations for quality research.
Head, Alison J. First Monday (2007). Articles>Education>Research>Online
#21479
Beyond Help: Making Help a Core Component of a Performance Support System 
With the advent of HTML Help and the ability to embed Help directly inside an application, there's been an increased interest in creating Help systems that are seamlessly integrated with their host applications. By blurring the line between the application and the Help that supports it, and by developing Help that automatically responds to user actions, application developers and Help authors now have the ability to develop true electronic performance support systems.
Wexler, Steven S. ComponentOne (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#22682
I like bit-mapped screen fonts. In fact, I prefer old-fashioned bit-mapped screen fonts to anything that ATM, TrueType, or Speedo can throw up on the screen. If we're expected to read documents on screen, we need better type than they can offer.
Will-Harris, Daniel. Typofile (1996). Design>Typography>Fonts>Online
#26688
In a broad sense that the weblog can be beneficial to the business world as a whole. More specifically, however, it provides technical communicators with unprecedented opportunites at innovation and leadership.
Danielson, Joe. Orange Journal, The (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Online>Blogging
#24397
Blogging as Social Action: A Genre Analysis of the Weblog
The weblog phenomenon raises a number of rhetorical issues, including the peculiar intersection of the public and private that weblogs seem to invite.
Miller, Carolyn R. Into the Blogosphere (2004). Articles>Rhetoric>Online>Blogging
#23682
Blogging as a trend has gained enormous popularity with the simplification of automated self-publishing systems, such as Blogger at www.blogger.com, or MT at www.moveabletype.org. Blogging as a way of life is also gathering adherents at a rapid pace.
Young, Lisa. MetroVoice (2003). Articles>Publishing>Online>Blogging
#31387
Blogs: Viral, Targeted, Fast, Informative--And Becoming Critical
The world of blogging, also known as the blogosphere, is wild, highly viral, uncensored and unedited. It is also the newest and most critical tool in a business communicator's toolbox. Why? Because with blogs, communicators can quickly, regularly and easily deliver a variety of information to a highly targeted audience. A good blog will create a more personal relationship with customers and influencers by showing that the company is listening and responding to what they have to say.
Cohen, Ephraim. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Online>Blogging
#20972
A Brief Guide to Communication Products Used in Online Learning
An overview of the various genres of information about online learning products.
Carliner, Saul. Saul Carliner Studio (2003). Articles>Editing>Online
#18470
This article has two purposes. A number of people have asked me what has been involved in producing the current version of JAC Online, and so the electronic archive’s history and technical development is presented here for them. In the process of working with JAC Online, I have come to some tentative conclusions about the role electronic research plays in scholarship, the significance electronic publications hold for paper publications, the question of e-publication and tenure, and how much technical knowledge is relevant to current and future scholarship in the humanities. I present these tentative conclusions in the context of my experience as an online editor. It is important to emphasize that my experience is limited to a single journal and my role with that journal is limited to that journal’s needs, and thus what I say is local knowledge. But like a lot of people I see all knowledge as local, even in cyberspace. To create the context for what I will suggest about the current state of online scholarship, I will first recount the history of JAC Online.
Pullman, George. Kairos (2002). Articles>Publishing>Online
#21505
Browse Sequence in Online Help
A browse sequence enables users to navigate through a series of help topics in the sequence established by the help author. Although often omitted from help systems, the browse sequence is useful and will become essential as print documentation diminishes. Effective design options for a browse sequence include multiple segments, rings, branching, and the use of a browse button to take the user to the first topic in the current segment of the browse sequence.
Farkas, David K. and Bruce R. Gibbs. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#20719
Build It Right And They Will Come
Teaching through the Web requires instructors to reconsider their previous assumptions about the nature of teaching, lecture, testing, and student/teacher interaction. In online classrooms, instructors often serve many design and maintenance roles. Managing the time required for these roles is an inescapable part of online instruction. The simpler the overall course design, the less often the instructor has to shift from role to role. Online instructors must use textual, visual and interactive metaphors consistently to help guide students toward productive forms of interaction. Finally an equal mix of textual, visual and interactive rhetorics is vital for effective online course design.
Gillette, David. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online
