Technology for Change

If you're not using these technologies now, your thinking is already outdated.

Janisch, Troy. Icon Interactive. Articles>Technology>User Centered Design

Technology for Professional Writers

This course is a variation of Utah State University's twice-annual Technology and the Writer Course. The Technology and the Writer course is based on research done in the 1990s to determine which writing professions demanded the best salaries and were most likely to survive overseas outsourcing.

Hailey, David E. Utah State University (2005). Academic>Courses>Technology>Technical Writing

Technology in and Beyond the Classroom

Many professors are using the Internet and the Web in connection with teaching traditional classes. Even if you don't want to use the Internet or the Web extensively, you may want to consider using them for some communication functions (see below) or for some information technology topics you might choose to include in a traditional course. Civil procedure professors, for example, may find it useful to visit websites linking to caselaw and commentary about the criteria for obtaining personal jurisdiction over those who maintain websites or on cyberspace as its own jurisdiction. Torts professors may find of interest Web-based materials on the potential liability of online service providers for torts committed by users. A panoply of materials about the Communications Decency Act and the Reno v. ACLU case are available on various websites for constitutional law courses. At the very least, law professors may want to treat the Internet and the Web as useful sources of information when preparing their classes.

Samuelson, Pamela. University of California Berkeley (1998). Articles>Technology>Regional>China

Technology Sets the Pace: Evolution of Technical Communication

Technical communicators will take on increasingly important roles as technology becomes ever more sophisticated. After all, we must be able to use this equipment once it is installed.

Marriott, Tony Rhodes. Boston Broadside (1991). Articles>TC>Technology

Technology Transfer: Science and Industry Working Together  

Science and technology are intimately related. The technology sector that drives the modern economy would never have arisen without basic scientific research, and that research is now being funded by companies seeking to gain a technological edge over their competitors. Despite this mutual dependence, technical communication has taken different paths in science and industry. Technology transfer, the communication of research results to an audience that can implement the results, bridges these two solitudes and strongly resembles much of the work done by other technical communicators.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Technology>Scientific Communication

Technology Would Be Great, If It Weren't for the Users

We are at a crucial point, where technology developments have achieved their peak, but have left users behind. Why? And what should we do about it?

Draheim, Andrew. LISA (2004). Articles>Technology>User Centered Design

Technology, Rhetoric, and Professional Communication

This course offers students in various disciplines a critical view of the technologies now shaping workplace communication and our society as a whole. Using rhetorical theories of technology, we will examine the historical roots of communication technology and explore a number of economic and ethical issues spawned by the computer revolution. Students will gain a deep understanding of how technology impacts the decisions of technical communicators in an increasingly electronic workplace.

Sauer, Geoffrey. Iowa State University (2005). Academic>Courses>Technology>Rhetoric

Tecnología del Habla

Foro de discusión sobre temas relacionados con el tratamiento computacional del Habla en cualesquiera de los campos de estudio actuales.

Macias-Guarasa, Javier. Red Iris. (Spanish) Resources>Mailing Lists>Technology

The Author's Toolkit: Creating a Partnership Between Technical and Nontechnical Team Members  

This paper discusses the evolution of the Author's Toolkit project. Pioneered in 1994, this educational effort was originally designed by SEMATECH's Technology Transfer department to create a paradigm shift in the way that SEMATECH's engineer-authors perceive the technology transfer process.

Modrey, Laurie. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Software>Technology

The Content Tail Wags the IT Dog

Without hardware and software, there would be nothing for digital media to be created on, or used with. And yet the content industry attempts to tell the far larger IT industry what it can and cannot do. The content industries have conspicuously failed to create a business model based on paid content over public IP networks, but still cling to the idea that those networks were created for just that use. Any software or system which might interfere with this theoretical paid content business is considered not just heretical, but probably criminal. The music and movie consortia have turned the transition to network distribution into a “with us or against us” battleground, with most of their customers fighting for the wrong side.

James, Daniel. Free Software Magazine (2005). Articles>Technology

Theoretical Approaches to Designing Experiences with Technology  

This paper examines various theoretical approaches on designing the user experience with technology and argues that a humanistic, conceptual framework augment current design industry practice. Taking into account psychological approaches and traditional narrative theory, this paper presents a theory for the human experience and applies this theory to "experience design," or the design of the human experience with technology. Guiding principles for the experience designer based on the paper's theoretical underpinnings are proposed.

Fukumoto, Dane K.T. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Technology>User Experience>Theory

Tomalak's Realm

Tomalak's Realm is a daily source of links to strategic Web design stories. Every day there are links to interesting articles with short quotes from the story on the site.

Lee, Lawrence. Tomalak's Realm. Resources>Web Design>Technology>Blogs

Tools and Technology Stem Overview  

Our new stem, Tools and Technology, offers 36 sessions that cover developing online information, tools for online development, usability, designing user interfaces, CD-ROM, surfing the Internet, methodologies as tools, and translation issues. We’ve attempted to stream topics to assist those attendees who want to focus on a theme.

Murr, Deirdre A. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Technology

Tools and Technology Stem Overview  

This year's conference theme, 'evolution/revolution' is perhaps more evident in the Tools and Technology stem than anywhere else. What changes we have seen in this area! And what presentations and events we have planned for you.

Grice, Roger A. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Technology

Tools for Distributed Development

When it comes to working on distributed teams or one with global development partners spread around the world, you need to use every tool you can to make interaction easier.

Mawdsley, Jason. Dr. Dobb's (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Technology

Tools Training for the Technical Communicator

When we started our training room at Ace Communications, the goal was to offer hands-on training in the tools of the trade for technical communicators. Even though there is continuity in the core tools used in the profession, there is enough evolution in the design and application of these tools to warrant ongoing training, even for experienced users. The experience of running both a training business and a consulting/staffing business points out that the most successful technical communicators combine extremely strong inter-personal skills with ongoing tools training.

Ace, Mark. STC Williamette Valley (2002). Articles>Education>Technology>Software

Toward a Feminist Rhetoric of Technology    

This article extends current thinking about the rhetoric of technology by making a preliminary inquiry into what a feminist rhetoric of technology might look like. On the basis of feminist critiques of technology in various disciplines, the author suggests three ways in which feminist approaches to building a rhetoric of technology might differ from current nonfeminist approaches to this task. First, feminist scholars should adopt a more expansive definition of technology than that which informs current rhetoric of technology research. Second, feminist scholars should ask different research questions than those being asked by current rhetoric-of-technology researchers. Third, feminist scholars should move beyond the design and development phases of technology, which most of the current research on the rhetoric of technology emphasizes.

Koerber, Amy. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (1999). Articles>Rhetoric>Technology>Gender

Towards Accessible Virtual Learning Environments

With the increasing use of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in further and higher education, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (part 4 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) which comes into force in September 2002 has particular relevance to developers and providers of VLEs. Developers and vendors can also help to ensure that VLEs are inclusive learning media by understanding the barriers that individuals face (whether or not they use assistive technology) and creating hardware and software designed to be accessible to all users. They should also understand the importance of designing accessible VLE content in order to provide guidance for users.

Cann, Chris. TechDis (2003). Academic>Accessibility>Technology>United Kingdom

Trends in Entry-Level Technology, Interpersonal, and Basic Communication Job Skills: 1992-1998    

This longitudinal study was conducted to identify trends in entry-level technology, interpersonal, and basic communication competencies and skills using entry-level classified newspaper advertisements from ten standard U.S. metropolitan statistical areas. Two competencies and one skill were selected from the Workplace Know-How's identified by the 1991 U.S. Department of Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). Specifically, ads including interpersonal competencies increased for the fourth consecutive year; ads including basic communication skills increased for the second consecutive year. Ads including technology competencies decreased slightly; however, the overall trend for technology remains strong. Therefore, the workplace continues seeking the competencies and skills advocated by the SCANS authors.

Bryans North, Alexa and William E. Worth. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2000). Careers>Business Communication>Technology>History

Trust and Blame

I lost my address book recently. It was one of those near-death computer experiences where you see your data pass before your eyes and start searching through the trash, then the Web, hoping to find the information you need right now. The experience made me think about blame--and trust.

Quesenbery, Whitney. UXmatters (2006). Articles>User Experience>Technology

Understanding Capital Equipment  

The purpose of this presentation is to explain capital equipment costs, budgeting and capital equipment purchase.

Caernarven-Smith, Patricia. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>TC>Technology

Understanding Open Source, Part 1  

Open source software is big news right now. We've heard from big-name corporations who support it and oppose it. A number of high-profile intellectual property battles concern it. You probably know an open source zealot who's spent some time extolling its virtues. Open source software is a good thing, and has an important place in the tech sector. Closed source software also has its place, and the industry will benefit most from cooperation between the two.

Feldman, David. KMworld (2006). Articles>Technology>Software>Open Source

Understanding Users' Commitment to Specific Technologies  

Users often become committed to certain versions and features of technology, making them leery when upgrades roll around. You can make the transition easier with these communication techniques.

Kalvar, Shannon T. TechRepublic (2003). Articles>Technology>Communication>User Centered Design

Usability as Therapy

Underneath the carnival excitement of the information revolution I hear a quiet but persistent murmur warning of an emerging technology crisis. Not everything is right in the information economy.

Kreitzberg, Charles B. Usability Professionals Association (1999). Careers>Usability>Workplace>Technology

Using a Wiki as an Organizational Portal

We explain why we chose a wiki-based content management system (CMS) as the basis for the portal for KeyContent.org. We compare various tools and discuss other sites that have implemented similar software for collaborative solutions.

Albing, Bill and Rick Sapir. KeyContent.org (2006). Presentations>Technology>Organizations>Wikis