This is the post for the week of Monday, February 27, 2017.

Notes for This Week

• Work for the Week: This week you will begin your group proposal. Your writing group should work to complete this week’s activities BEFORE you leave for Spring Break. Allowing them to wait until the Grace Period ends after break will complicate the process of completing your proposal on time.

• Readings for the Week: This week, there are some separate readings for business writing and technical writing classes. Read the portion that is relevant to you. You can, of course, read or skim the material for the other course for additional pointers.

• Spring Break: I assume that everyone takes a break next week. I will reply to email or questions in Slack, but more slowly than usual.

Readings for This Week

Everyone	Writing Guide for the Workplace (assignment) Proposal for Writing Guide Group Project (assignment) Examples, Cases & Models: Proposals from Online Technical Writing
Business Writing Students	Proposal Writing Basics from Business Communication for Success
Technical Writing Students	Proposals from Online Technical Writing

Writing Group Due Dates

Major Projects	Due Date
a proposal for your group’s writing guide	11:59 PM on March 17
the writing guide itself (which can take several forms)	11:59 PM on April 14
a presentation of primary information from your report	11:59 PM on May 1

Activities for This Week

1. Review the assignments for the Writing Guide for the Workplace and Proposal for Writing Guide Group Project. The Examples, Cases & Models: Proposal provides some models you can use as your group works. Post any questions you have about the assignments in #general on Slack.

2. Examine the Project Kickoff infographic for tips on how your group can begin work on your proposal successfully. Click on the infographic to view a larger, easier to read version. Your team should work through these ten steps by the time your proposal is complete.

3. Complete steps 1 and 2 of the Proposal before break. These steps require setting up a Google Doc for your group to compose in, choosing the kinds of writing you will profile, and deciding on a publishing medium. If you want to begin drafting your proposal, I recommend copying the required section details from the assignment and pasting it into your Google Doc. That process will give you the details you need to include within the document, so you an begin adding your specific information under each heading.

4. Add a mid-term reflection to your participation log. Go to the fourth tab in your participation log, which is labeled “Self-assessment, reflection, and improvement.” Follow the instructions there to add a mid-term reflection on your work to date. Set goals for the work you need to do during the rest of the semester to meet the requirements for the course.

5. Complete a Self-Assessment next week. Download the 02/20 to 03/03 Template and follow the instructions to share details on your work this week with me. Since this self-assessment covers two weeks, you will find details on some of the activities in the course blog post for last week. Upload your completed self-assessment to the 02/20 to 03/03 Self-Assessment in Canvas by 11:59 PM on Friday, 03/03. If you need extra time, take advantage of the grace period, which ends at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, 03/14.

 

[Credits: Infographic from 10 Steps to a Kickass Project Kickoff: A Checklist for Project Managers by Wrike]

 

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This is the post for the week of Tuesday, February 21, 2017.

Notes for This Week

• Collaborative work: This week we begin the super-projects that will be your focus for the rest of the term.

• Overlapping activities: Since the grace period for the Analysis project does not end until 11:59 on Thursday, you may find yourself working on projects for two different weeks.

Readings for This Week

• Succeeding in This Online Course
• 10 Rules of Professional Etiquette for the Digital Workplace (text)
• 10 Rules of Professional Etiquette for the Digital Workplace (infographic)
• Is Poor Collaboration Killing Your Company?
• Why Teamwork Is So Painful
• Conflict Resolution Steps: CALM

Writing Group Work and the Remaining Projects

This week we begin the super-projects that will be your focus for the rest of the term. Your writing group will collaborate to create three projects:

Major Projects	Due Date
a proposal for your group’s writing guide	11:59 PM on March 17
the writing guide itself (which can take several forms)	11:59 PM on April 14
a presentation of primary information from your report	11:59 PM on May 1

The assignments for these remaining projects will be available next week. This week you will do some preliminary work on your proposal.

Your group will create these three projects collaboratively. These group projects will each be graded for completion, content, format and design, and accuracy and correctness. Each project will earn a base grade according to those criteria. That base grade will be adjusted up or down for each individual writing group member, taking into account the member’s effort, input, and performance.

Activities for This Week

1. Review the tips for Succeeding in This Online Course. Set a schedule for the rest of the term to ensure that you take time to complete work on time and collaborate with your writing group.

2. Review the information on collaboration. The four infographics for this week address some of the challenges of teamwork and suggest ways to deal with them. Read through the information, and find at least one idea that you think would strengthen your writing group. Share the idea and your feelings about it in a post in your #team______ channel in Slack. If appropriate, revise your group guidelines to reflect this new information.

3. Create a single analysis document for your group. This work is the first step for work on your proposal. Follow this process:

   1. Create a single document in Google Docs that is shared with all your group members and with me (tengrrl@vt.edu). Only one of you needs to do this.
   2. Add your analysis table to the group document.
   3. Organize the document to make it more usable. In particular, group similar kinds of writing together. For instance, if several of you included email, arrange the information so that all the entries for email are together.
   4. Don’t worry about differences in columns for now. This is just a working document.

4. Update your participation log. You will do your midterm participation reflection next week, so spend some time this week making sure that your log is up to date.

5. Complete a Self-Assessment next week. Because of Presidents Day, we have a short week this week, and next Friday (or earlier), you will all head off for Spring Break. To keep the workload reasonable, you will report on your work to date before break starts.

 

[Credits: Infographic was created on canva.com. Icons are all from The Noun Project, used under a CC-BY 3.0 license: : book laptop by unlimicon, Coffee by Vladislava Barzin, schedule by Chameleon Design, group chat by Gregor Cresnar, and group brainstrom by cathy moser.]

 

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This is the post for the week of Monday, February 13, 2017.

Notes for Today

• Shift in due dates: Because many groups have had challenges in working out logistics for this first project, I have changed our due dates:

  • 02/06 to 2/10 Self-Assessment due in Canvas by 11:59 PM on Friday, 02/17
  • Analysis of Writing in Your Field due in Canvas by 11:59 PM on Friday, 02/17

• Déjà vu: Since we are continuing work from last week, you will see that the readings are the same. That doesn’t mean you can skip them. Read through them again and work to make your group stronger and more collaborative.

• Celebrate President’s Day: Monday, 2/20 is a holiday. Even though Tech doesn’t take the day off, I am assuming that this course will. Nothing is due on Monday, and the post for next week will be live around midnight on Tuesday, 2/21. Enjoy some time off!

Readings for This Week

• Effective Collaboration
• Writing Groups Overview
• 7.4 Evaluating the Work of Others from Business Communication for Success
• Why Peer Review? (video, 5m38s)
• Analysis of Writing in Your Field Assignment, including the Google Slideshow
• Ten Ways to Improve Your Writing, and links from that page that explain the concepts

Group Work and Major Project Assignment #1

You have two goals this week: (1) doing whatever it takes to build a strong, working writing group, and (2) revising and submitting your Analysis of Writing in Your Field project.

As a reminder, here are the critical dates for the project:

• Week of January 30: Research and draft your project.
• Week of February 6: Share your draft with your writing group, and provide feedback to your group members.
• Submission Due Date: Friday, February 17 at 11:59 PM   *** New Due Date ***
• End of Grace Period: Thursday, February 23 at 11:59 PM (3-day grace period, excluding weekend + President’s Day holiday)

Activities for This Week

1. Build a strong writing group. Each group needs to work to ensure that everyone gets feedback and support. To that end, make sure you have completed the work assigned last week:
   1. Introduce yourself to your writing group.
   2. Collaborate to set ground rules for your writing group in your #team______ channel on Slack. Be sure to think about when you should post ideas and how to ensure that work doesn’t wait until the last minute.
   3. Share a draft of your Analysis of Writing project in your #team______ channel on Slack and give feedback to your group members.

2. Read through/view the resources on your writing group, and tell your writing group at least one thing you will do to help the team collaborate successfully.

3. Revisit last week’s post for details on the activities you need to complete. All the work listed last week is due by Friday, 2/17..

4. Complete the Self-Assessment for the week. Since the work continues from last week, you will update and submit the template from last week. Download the 02/06 to 2/10 Template and follow the instructions to share details on your work this week with me. Upload your completed self-assessment to the 02/06 to 2/10 Self-Assessment in Canvas by 11:59 PM on Friday, 02/17. If you need extra time, take advantage of the grace period, which ends at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, 02/21.

 

Total weekly activity points for 02/06 to 2/10: 10 (with an additional 2 points extra credit)

 

 

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This is the post for the week of Monday, January 30, 2017.

Notes for Today

• My Apology: I’m sorry for the delay in getting this week’s post online. Our dog Daisi was 13, and she is very much missed. Thanks for being understanding.

• Reminder: If you are taking advantage of the grace period, complete the 01/30 to 02/03 Self-Assessment in Canvas by 11:59 PM tonight (Monday, February 6).

• Better Discussions: Starting this week, most of your discussions in Slack will take place with your Writing Group. That means that conversations will become a lot easier. You will only be chatting with at most 11 people (rather than close to 90). I will indicate your writing group channels as #Team______ in the weekly posts.

• Extra Credit: This week has opportunities for extra credit in the Weekly Self-Assessment. Complete the optional items for extra points.

Readings for This Week

• Effective Collaboration
• Writing Groups Overview
• 7.4 Evaluating the Work of Others from Business Communication for Success
• Why Peer Review? (video, 5m38s)
• Analysis of Writing in Your Field Assignment, including the Google Slideshow
• Ten Ways to Improve Your Writing, and links from that page that explain the concepts

Crowdsourcing Revision of Major Project Assignment #1

This week, you will spend time with your writing groups getting and giving advice on how to improve your Analysis of Writing in Your Field project. Your previous English classes probably called this process peer review. Several of the readings talk about how peer review works.

In addition to the information in the readings, I want to suggest that you think of this process differently. Imagine that you are crowdsourcing revision of the documents. Each of you brings what knowledge and information you have to the projects. Add what you can. Ask for help where you need it. You know how crowdsourcing works. Bring that idea of working together to make something happen to the projects you are working on.

As a reminder, here are the critical dates for the project:

• Week of January 30: Research and draft your project.
• Week of February 6: Share your draft with your writing group, and provide feedback to your group members.
• Submission Due Date: Wednesday, February 15 at 11:59 PM
• End of Grace Period: Tuesday, February 21 at 11:59 PM (3-day grace period, excluding weekend + President’s Day holiday)

Activities for This Week

1. Introduce yourself to your writing group. I set up groups in Canvas and Slack, following the Google Sign-up Document. In Slack, share the professional bio that you posted in #intros with your writing group. Add any comments you’d like to get to know one another beyond sharing your bio. There are two ways to share your bio:
   1. Find your bio in #intros, copy it, and paste it into your #team______ channel.
   2. Find your bio in #intros, follow the instructions to quote a message to get the link, and paste the link into your #team______ channel.

2. Collaborate to set ground rules for your writing group in your #team______ channel on Slack. The primary work of your writing group is explained in the Writing Groups Overview. You may also collaborate to write some short documents. Your group should make a set of guidelines that covers all of the following:

   • Contact information that group members can use to contact one another outside Slack and Canvas, if desired.
   • Group responsibilities (division of labor) for the project. For instance, do you want a leader? Who is responsible for making sure work is done?
   • Communication policies that account for how the group will deal with scheduling, questions, and absences.
   • Revision crowdsourcing strategies and plans (think about including ideas from this week’s readings).

3. Share a draft of your Analysis of Writing project in your #team______ channel on Slack.

   • In your message, ask your group to look at anything you are trying to improve. Let them know the kind of advice you need.
   • Add a link to your draft or direct your group members to find the draft in the Analysis of Writing in Your Field discussion in Canvas. Do NOT upload your draft to Slack, as we have to be careful not to go over our storage limit.

4. Work on the design and phrasing of your Analysis of Writing project. Apply information from the Ten Ways to Improve Your Writing and from the slideshow in the assignment to your project. For instance, pay attention to things like the layout of the columns, how you phrase the information in your table, and the alignment of the information in the columns. You will find more information in the linked resources.

5. Find info on ethics. If you are focusing on ethics in your table, check out Chapter 9 (9.1–9.6) of Technical Writing by Hamlin, Rubio, and DeSilva. You need to click through to access all the sections of the chapter.

6. Find info on intercultural and global issues. If you are focusing on intercultural and global issues in your table, check out Practicing Intercultural Communication from Writing Commons.

7. Update your Participation Log. Add details on your contributions in Slack to your Log to make sure your records are up-to-date.

8. Complete the Self-Assessment for the week. Download the 02/06 to 2/10 Template and follow the instructions to share details on your work this week. Upload your completed self-assessment to the 02/06 to 2/10 Self-Assessment in Canvas by 11:59 PM on Saturday, 02/011. If you need extra time, take advantage of the grace period, which ends at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, 02/14.

 

Total weekly activity points for 02/06 to 2/10: 10 (with an additional 2 points extra credit)

 

[Image: Detail from Effective Collaboration [INFOGRAPHIC]]
 

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Folks, I will post the work for this week in the next 24 hours, and I will give you the extra day to complete it.

One of our dogs passed away this evening. She had been sick for about a week. I’m sorry, but I just can’t pull things together enough to put the work online right now.
—traci

 

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