Cut and Paste

This chapter posits a widening gap between workplace writing practices and traditional composition pedagogies. In particular, this chapter suggests that traditional composition pedagogies persist in foregrounding solitary, proprietary authors as model composers, despite the limited applicability of these models. The fields of technical and professional communication, by contrast, have long valued collaboration and modes of authorship that do not always imply the composer’s ownership of a given text. These fields’ biases are reinforced by the advent of digital media, and the Internet in particular. Digital technologies facilitate collaboration and promote a greater range of authorial stances than their print counterparts. The chapter concludes by offering pedagogical approaches directed at promoting composition pedagogies commensurate with the challenges faced by professional and technical writers working in digital composing spaces.

An Open Source Primer

This chapter serves as an introductory overview of Open Source Software (OSS) and the Open Source movement. It is geared primarily for technical communicators. To provide a thorough overview, this chapter defines OSS, explains how OSS works in comparison to proprietary software, looks at the history of OSS, and examines OSS licensing types, applications in business, and overall strengths and weaknesses when compared to proprietary software. Lastly, it evaluates the practical potential of OSS as well as emerging and future trends relating to it. From this general but thorough overview the intended audience of technical communicators will gain the solid understanding needed to work successfully in an academic or professional environment where OSS continues to grow in popularity, spurring more organizations to rely on it or the Open Source ideas that have inspired and continue to drive its creation and growth.

Is This a Real Person? A Tutor's Response to Navigating Identity in the Spaces of a Synchronous Electronic Writing Center

This chapter explores some of the theoretical and pedagogical issues that emerged from a study of identity, collaboration, and discourse methods in synchronous online writing center tutoring. Based on a newly introduced online component of an established university writing center, the premise of this study was to advance tutor training in the context of transferring traditional face-to-face (F2F) methodology to a synchronous terminal-to-terminal environment in a way that effectively preserved the integrity of dialogic collaboration. What emerged became a study of the rhetoric of face and space, in which an understanding of the complexities of online identity perception and projection becomes key to adapting existing F2F tutoring methods to online space in a way that promotes pedagogically sound discourse and learning.

Creating Community in the Technical Communication Classroom

A listserv can help to create a sense of community in a technical communication classroom. After reviewing relevant literature from Composition Studies, the author introduces the Psychological Sense of Community concept, which provides a research tool to direct a quantitative evaluation of the sense of community in four technical communication classes, two that use a listserv and two that do not. The author concludes that technical communication students would benefit from learning to become members of this type of discourse community because of its relevance to the working world.

The State of Online Writing Labs

This chapter analyzes the “state of the art” of OWLs, or online writing labs. It reports the results of a study of 343 OWLs that examined the extent to which OWLs have emerged into what Crump calls “true OWLs”—fully-interactive OWLs where tutors provide individualized help to students via computer-mediated communication like email. This chapter also examines what the literature and research on online tutoring say about the advantages and disadvantages of online tutoring in comparison with face-to-face tutoring. It is hoped that this chapter can illuminate the extent to which OWLs have fulfilled their promise to be places where students and tutors can freely exchange ideas and texts. It is also hoped that this chapter can suggest the extent to which OWL services can be expanded and improved.

A Bridge to the Workplace

In this chapter, we examine the ways in which the Internet was used to run a case study-based, decision-making simulation in an academic writing class of 26 Japanese students studying English at a computer science university. The students had to construct an online glossary aimed at building sufficient background knowledge related to the simulation and then, in teams, create online documents demonstrating an understanding of the simulation problem and offer potential solutions. Information was delivered to students via the Web, and all documents produced by students were posted to their homepages. Assessment and observation revealed that the objectives of the simulation were achieved and that students were quite motivated throughout the simulation because they were able to make connections between the simulation activities and their chosen career. It is hoped that this study will act as an impetus for additional online simulation experiments in academia, business, and government.

Telework

This chapter discusses the emergence of telework or telecommuting and the need to rethink professional communication practices for this remote working arrangement. The chapter conceptualizes variations of telework and discusses distinctions within the telework arrangement in light of its impact on communication. Furthermore, the chapter lays the groundwork for effective employment of telework by discussing the importance of communication during design of the system, as well as the importance of communication while engaged in telework from both task-oriented and personal interactions perspectives. Case scenarios are used to illustrate key considerations and to begin a dialogue between teleworkers and those who manage them.

MOOs

This chapter defines, describes, and assesses the form of collaborative virtual learning environment known as MOOs. MOOs offer opportunities impossible in any other actively developed online communication tool, but they have remained largely the purview of hackers, coders, and academics. This chapter deals with understanding what a MOO is, what key features make it a valuable collaborative environment, and issues of accessibility, access, and governance. Key aspects include defining and historicizing MOO, exploring the technology’s current development, discussing issues that presently limit large-scale acceptance, and speculation about the possibilities and the future of MOO. The chapter considers text-based multimedia environments; general features of synchronous and asynchronous technologies; the notion of polysynchrony; tools for rapid prototyping, education, or training of users; application accessibility; costs in hardware, software, and manhours; and whether it’s worth organizations getting involved in MOOs at their present state of development.

Expanding the Classroom

Traditional classroom environments can benefit from using asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) such as an online discussion group (Yahoo! Groups). An online discussion group can “expand the classroom” in a number of ways, such as allowing for student and instructor interaction throughout the week at times convenient to all participants, shifting learning from a teacher-oriented to a network-oriented, collaborative learning environment, and providing rapid teacher feedback to homework that lets students immediately apply what they have learned. This chapter offers concrete advice on techniques to best use online discussion groups in a variety of class types and sizes, and warns of potential pitfalls to be aware of when using them. Evolving functions of Yahoo! Groups and other asynchronous online formats that can further complement the learning experience outside the classroom are also examined.

Millennium Leadership Inc.

Technology, communication, leadership, and work processes are inextricably linked in contemporary organizations. An understanding of these topics and an ability to apply these understandings in the workplace is becoming increasingly critical for workers in all sectors. In this chapter, we discuss some of the competencies that are vital for success in the contemporary workplace, and provide a description of one approach to developing these skills: a simulated organization designed to create a dynamic classroom learning environment. We explain how simulations help students develop “real-world” competencies in effective communication and writing practices in mediated and geographically dispersed contexts, and we present how educators, students, and professionals may benefit from this approach.