TC 310 The Computer in

Technical Communication

Dr. Jennifer Turns

Week 7, Day 2 (5/14)

Day 15

• By the end of class, students should be able to: – Identify progress toward TC 310 learning objectives

– Explain the concept of a professional portfolio

– Begin the TC310 professional portfolio assignment

• What we’ll do…– Part 1: Look back / Take Stock– Part 2: Look forward /

• Discuss professional portfolios• Begin audience analysis

Experience with Course Tools…

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Word

PowerP

oint

Visio

Photo

shop

InDesig

n

Robohe

lp

Dream

weaver

Flash

Software Tools

Lev

el o

f E

xper

ien

ce

Never heard of it

Confused novice

Unconfident beginning

Confident beginner

Confident novice

Competent user

Power user

Experience with Tool Types…

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Word

Pro

cess

ing

Prese

ntat

ion cr

eatio

n

Graph

ics

Diagr

ams

Page

Layo

ut

Help dev

elopm

ent

Web d

esig

n

Animat

ion

Type of Tool

Lev

el o

f E

xper

ien

ce

No experience

One tool

Multiple tools

Power user

Thoughts on learning technologies…

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

I want to learn newtechnologies

I am comfortable learningnew technologies

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

Thoughts related to assignments…

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

I expect to beengaged (not

bored)

I like creativeassignments

I expectchallenge

I don't haveother concerns

I will be able tokeep up

I like working inteams

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

Thoughts about course…

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

I expect the course tobe valuable

I am excited about thecourse

I am curious aboutcourse

I have heard goodthings about the

course

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

WOW!

• Eight Designed Solutions: – Illustrating uses of software: Word, Powerpoint, Photoshop,

Visio, RoboHelp, Dreamweaver, HTML, InDesign– Illustrating genres of TC activity: Document design, Presentation

design, Fact Sheets, Online Help…– Illustrating use of common software functionality - Styles, Master

Slide/Page, Layers

• Key Features – talking about solutions

• Design Rationale – talking about design

• Learning Reflections – talking about learning

Taking Stock

What were you supposed to be learning in this course?

What progress have we made toward the desired learning?

Course Learning Objectives

• Use Software Tools. Use modern software tools to accomplish common TC activities including presentation management, word processing, graphics design, diagram design, page layout, web development, online help development, and animation.

• Learn New Software Tools. Use skills developed throughout the course (particularly an understanding of tool functionality and strategies to get oriented in a new software program) to quickly come up to speed on new software tools.

• Identify Effective TC Solutions. Identify criteria for judging the effectiveness of TC solutions (e.g., document, diagram, etc.) and use these criteria to evaluate TC solutions.

• Describe Personal Design Processes. Describe and use design processes that lead to effective solutions for a wide range of TC professional activities.

• Create Effective TC Solutions. Create effective TC solutions by using the software skills learned in the course as well as the knowledge of what makes TC solutions effective and a personal awareness of design process issues.

Students benefit in different ways

(Results from Learning Portfolio…)

Best WorstLearned

MostLearned

Least

Goal: Use

software

Goal: Learn to

learn

Goal: TC

qualityPowerpoint 2 1 0 3 2 0 5

Word 1 4 0 9 2 0 3Photoshop 6 2 9 1 3 9 3

Vidio 3 4 0 3 2 1 0Indesign 2 3 1 2 4 2 3

RoboHelp 2 1 6 0 1 5 1Dreamweaver 0 3 1 0 1 2 2

Portfolio 2 1 2 0 4 0 2

Key: Values indicating number of students selecting the specific technology assignment as meeting the stated criteria

Taking Stock

• Publish – Publish your “submission portfolio” in E-portfolio.

• Explore – Explore your own submission portfolio– Explore the submission portfolios of others

• Brainstorm– What progress relative to the course learning objectives?

Looking Ahead - Professional Portfolio

• Your 9th assignment in this class is to design and develop a web-based professional portfolio. This professional portfolio should showcase the work that you have completed since the beginning of the term.

• Let’s go over the assignment…

Professional Portfolios

• What is a professional portfolio? A portfolio is a container of documents that provide evidence of someone’s knowledge, skills, and/or dispositions. (p.203)Barton & Collins (1993), Bird (1990)

• What makes the difference between a portfolio and a journal and a portfolio and a scrapbook?The main difference between a portfolio and a journal and a portfolio and a scrapbook is the definition of purpose or stated goals with the intent to evaluate. According to Barton & Collins the first and most consequential act of preparing a professional portfolio is the decision of its purpose and the definition of goals. Each piece selected, created and collected must demonstrate progress towards the target.

Looking Ahead

Day Emphasis

Monday Definition, examples, analysis

Wednesday Audience analysis, more examples

Monday Holiday

Wednesday Preliminary designs

Monday (Flash fun)

Wednesday Open House, Due date!

Explore some examples… Explore the following portfolios and identify an

observation to share…

Former TC310 Examples• Follow the links from the previous course websites:

http://faculty.washington.edu/jturns/

Some examples of portfolios • http://coe.unk.edu:16080/beth/prof.shtml• http://ouray.cudenver.edu/~dmvaldez/portfolio/index.html• Hankins and Anderson Engineering• http://www.deconno.com/PortfolioPages/Contents.Html• http://www.raccoonbob.com/mystuff/mywork.htm

Audience Analysis – Users

What types of users might make use of the professional portfolio?

Audience Analysis - Personas

• Persona – “A persona is a profile of an archetypal user synthesized from a series of interviews with real people. It includes a name, a social history, and a set of goals that drive the developer’s design of the product or website.” (Perfetti, in Intercom, Nov 2002, p. 35)

Audience Analysis - Personas

• Example Persona of a Student in 310: Sara is a junior in technical communication. She joined the department recently when she learned she could combine her interest in writing, technology and science. She currently does not know exactly what she plans on doing with her degree. Although she has had little experience in using varied software tools, she is confident in her ability to learn new tools as needed.

Audience Analysis - Personas

Persona – “A persona is a profile of an archetypal user synthesized from a series of interviews with real people. It includes a name, a social history, and a set of goals that drive the developer’s design of the product or website.” (Perfetti, in Intercom, Nov 2002, p. 35)

Your Team Task

• Create a persona for the assigned user group with: – name,

– goals/tasks,

– knowledge, and

– circumstances of use

• Post your persona to the course EPost.

Implications

What do we know about portfolios?

Explore the following portfolios and identify an observation to share…

• http://www.csp.msu.edu/cdc/webport/Definition.html

• http://www.iloveteaching.com/tchweb/portfolio/def.htm

• http://www.smsu.edu/assessment/Portfolio/Definition.htm

• http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/departments/CIT2/faqport.htm