• Time Required
• 6 to 8 hours, including reading time

Technical writing is any kind of writing you might be called upon to produce for an audience in your particular workplace. The term refers not only to complex, lengthy, heavily-illustrated documents like reports and user guides, but also to shorter pieces of writing like memos, letters, and progress reports.

But guess what? Technical writing can take place outside the workplace as well: Did you ever

• write down a recipe for someone?
• tell someone how to get somewhere?
• describe the exact tool to use for a project?
• persuade someone to buy a particular item?
• outline the rules for a particular D&D setting?

All of these kinds of communicating are technical writing—and I bet you have a lot of experience with that kind of technical writing.

This week’s activities introduce you to the ethical and legal considerations that influence technical writing.

Holidays & Events This Week

Here‘s what‘s coming up this week:

• Labor Day is observed on Monday, September 4. Virginia Tech has no classes this day, and I will take the day off.
• Krishna Janmashtami is a Hindu festival, which marks the birth of Krishna. It is celebrated September 6–7.
• The Nativity of Mary, is a Christian feast day celebrated on Friday, September 8.

If any of these holidays will interfere with your work in the class, send me a message with Canvas Inbox and let me know how you need me to adjust your due dates.

Objectives for this Module

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to perform the technical writing tasks defined by the learning objectives for the course:

• Assemble and analyze research from diverse sources appropriate to problem solving (e.g, literature review, evaluation of online resources, interviewing, and site inspection) [CLO 1]
• Analyze the context; determine appropriate audiences for or users of planned communications; assess needs of global audiences and people with disabilities. [CLO 2]
• Practice workplace genres related to specific fields (e.g., proposals, instructions, correspondence, reports, technical specifications and slide decks); illustrate how genre conventions can serve as heuristics and as principles of arrangement [CLO 3]
• Practice team and collaborative work in all phases of project management: planning, researching, writing, revising, and presenting information; include genres associated with team work (e.g., meeting minutes, summaries, poster presentations; pitches) [CLO 4]

Activities to Complete

📚 To Read This Week

• Resource Module: Ethics in Technical Writing

📝 To Do This Week

• Finish work on the Survey of Website Writing In Your Field Informal Report Assignment, which is due September 8. Use these resources:
  • Website Analysis Table & Memo Criteria
  • Informal Reports Resource Module
  • Intercultural Communication Resource Module
  • “Data Visualization: How to Tell a Story With Data” (Nicole Martin, Forbes.com)
  • Website Analysis Table and Memo Self-Check
• Complete the Website Analysis Submission Wrapper, to record details on your work on the project.
• Try out strategies from the course by submitting these activities:
  • Try-It #5: Your Discipline‘s Code of Ethics discussion post (Tuesday)
  • Try-It #6: The Ethical Dilemma of the Absent Team Member discussion post (Thursday)

 

💬 To Ask Questions (Optional)

• Post public questions in the General Q&A Discussion in Canvas if it can be shared with the class.
  
• If you have a private question, send me a message with the Canvas Inbox.
• Ask a question or make a suggestion anonymously with the Anonymous Questions & Suggestions form.

📓 To Check-In This Week

• Fill out the Week 3 Check-In Survey to let me know how the week has gone for you.

Photo credit: null by Beryl Chan on Flickr, used under public domain.