Week Eight Greetings and Quiz Review

Hello Everyone,

This time around, the video offers an introduction and review combined.

You have projects due on Sunday by midnight, and revisions by midnight on Monday, as I will turn in grades Tuesday.


Again, I hope that you enjoyed a rigorous and productive term.

Thank you for an upbeat and invigorating term, Bill

Review for Quiz Seven

Hello Everyone,

Here is a quick review for Quiz Seven from a couple years ago, which covers Formal Reports and those pesky instructions. As usual, the review covers all the questions asked and goes over familiar material

So this week, you have a bit of review over reports (called Formal Reports previously) and Instructions.

Next week's quiz will cover Presentations, to keep the information fresh in your mind.
Thank you for your continued hard work and patience as we work through a rather hectic and demanding eight weeks.

Do a good job, Bill

Week Seven Hello

This video from Spring 2009 contains information of use for your final projects and the revisions that will occupy you over the next two weeks.

But know that the video covers reading materials from last week; I plan a new video, so keep watching the Announcement for Week Seven.

Greetings Technical Communicators,

This week and next, you will devote your time to your Final Projects and Revisions, which I will accept until midnight of the class's final day, a week from this next Sunday, March 3.

Here I talk about the chapters you read this term and in general about the week's work.


The term draws to a conclusion, so keep up.

Enjoy the week, Bill

Quiz For Week Six

Hello Everyone,

Here you will find this week's review for the quiz, Quiz Six this time around.

Only two more quizzes and the semester comes to a conclusion. Amazing.





Do a good job on the quiz and work hard on your final projects, the last major bit of writing you will do this term; the project is due the last official day of class.

See you next time around, Bill

Welcome to Week Six

Week Six Gets Underway

Hello Everyone,

This video from last year covers the writing assignment for last week that will help you with revisions.

In this short introduction to the week, I talk about the Final Project and last week's writing assignments--the video also talks about what you will discuss and write this week: directives.

We will return next week to Recommendation Reports and the other material covered in the final chapters.

This video offers more discussion of your final project you began to think about last week.

Enjoy a productive week, Bill

Quiz Five Review Video

Review for Quiz Five

Hello Technical Communicators, This video goes over the material from Chapters 14 and 15, from E-mail communication to resume organization.

Only one question concerns what we will discuss next week, writing proposals, which leads us to Informal and Formal Reports and the paper to which you presently give consideration.

And I give you the correct answer to that question right away.

Enjoy a pleasant weekend, Bill

Greetings for Week Five

Hello writers of Technical Communication,



We enter now the second half of a busy term, so congratulations for your sustained efforts.

And as this week's writing exercises indicate, we move this week to the term's completion. And while the weekly writing exercises do burden your busy schedule--especially with all the reading--the dividends, I assure you, pay off.

Though the business metaphor in times of toil and trouble might not fit all that well, the fact remains the same: the practice in the context the class establishes will only help you succeed.

So this week you will write what amounts to a short report and read about memorandum, letter, and e-mail communication, along with letters of application and resumes.

You conclude the reading by looking a proposals, to which we will return next wee,.

I wish you a successful week.

Bill

Review for Quiz Four

Quiz Review for WEEK FOUR

Hello Everyone,

We reach the half-way mark in this class--congratulations to one and all for your continued hard work.

Here you will find twenty questions that cover Chapters 11, 12, and 13; questions for Chapter 14 will appear on next week's quiz. And a couple questions refer to the important issues covered in Chapter 10, concerns you will continue to address in all your class work.

Listen carefully to the discussion, for I do touch on every question and want each of you to do an excellent job. 

And a couple questions refer to matters related to what the text has to say and to which I add a couple things.

Do a good job on the quiz, Bill

Welcome to Week Four

Greetings for the beginning for Week Four

Hello Everyone,


The end of this busy week marks the halfway point of this demanding schedule.





Congratulations to all who have kept up. 

And after this week, you will have plenty of material for revision. Remember: the revised grade replaces the mark for the previous effort, the reason I spend so much time on each assignment.


You have four chapters to read for this week; however, the exercises concentrate most of the effort on the first three. You have  choices from which to choose this week, and each asks that you compose a memorandum. 

Make sure to utilize a template.


The video discusses the writing assignments and introduce you to the material covered this week; do not pay attention to anything about Google Documents, for which I apologize.  You will all work with blogs instead, leading to the final project for the class I will address in a new video.

Watch this video for a brief discussion of Twitter and your Blog:

We will return to Chapter Fourteen again next week.


I wish you a productive week.


Bill

Quiz Three Review

I offer twenty-two questions this week over the three chapters and

discuss each of the questions in this video, reinforcing material from the video that introduced the week's work.

I will leave the quiz up through Monday night to give everyone a chance to do a good job.

Go well and stay warm, Bill

Hello Week Three

Greetings for Week Three.

Here you will find a brief introduction to this week during which I offer some discussion of the chapters and of the writing assignments.

I hope that your week gets off to a good start.
Bill

Week Two Quiz Review

Week Two Greetings

Hello Everyone and Welcome to Week Two:

You have a considerable amount of work to do this week in the reading department--four chapters, but very interesting material--so pace yourself.

And get to the two threads right away, for the reading should generate good discussion. This time and for the remainder of the term, you will respond at least three times to each of the two threads.

Thank you in advance for a strong effort on the threads; as a couple of you noted to me, the first week of classes passes in a haze and quickly. As a result, the thread for Week One will remain open until midnight Monday, as the weekly announcement indicates. So feel free to continue a bit more the discussions.

The reading covers a good range of material, from Collaboration to Organizational Strategies, so read carefully.

Here is the new video (that you might want to watch over two sittings, for I talk about all four chapters (48 minutes):

Read the writing assignment carefully. If you have questions, e-mail me right away--remember, too, that the video comes from last year, and I taught the class in the second eight-week period the last two years the class have been offered:

Quiz for Week One Review

Greetings Everyone,

Here you will find a short video that helps you with this week's quiz--remember that I made this quiz last year at around the identical time but in different circumstances, so do not feel confused.You have until midnight Sunday, Jan. 18,  to complete this first quiz--note that the video says otherwise, but you must for the federal government complete a graded assignment.  If you work on the threads but cannot for some reason take the quiz, contact me. 

You will find the quizzes linked in the the weekly assignment folder which contain, in addition, the reading and writing assignments as well as assignment links.

The first post for the term of the blog--just scroll down or use the archive, clicking on the appropriate link--also includes useful links to the class syllabus and other areas of interest for the class.
Listen to this video before you take the quiz, which consists of twenty multiple-choice and true-false questions.

You must complete the quiz in one sitting. In addition, you will respond to one question at a time and cannot go back to a previously-answered question.

If you encounter problems, e-mail me. Reading the assigned chapters and listening to the video, in which I discuss all the questions, should result in a good grade.

Do a good job, Bill

Peru Cemetery

Week One Greetings

Hello Everyone and Welcome to Technical Communication for Spring 2016

As the following video from last term indicates, I will post a video each week to introduce the material and to talk with you in general about the course and our progress.  I will often update videos.


This class now counts for General Studies requirements for Technology and Its Applications.




I will add as necessary at the beginning of Week One an additional video for your viewing to fill you in on changes and to add to the commentary from the previous recording.

The old video talks about the Eighth Edition, but we use the Eleventh Edition, and I will keep you up to date on changes.

I will soon look over this edition.  I mention a Kindle version in the video for the then tenth edition; I use an e-version for the text.

Here, too, I will create some links that you will find helpful; the blog archives everything, so you can come here to find the links published as well on the class web page .

You will find the following links useful to link as favorites:

1. Class Syllabus
2. Netiquette
3. Technical Communication Site
4. Weekly Assignments
5. Bill's Peru State College Web Page
6. Bill's Personal Web Page
7. Writing for Publication Web Page

If you think of any other useful sites for the class, just let me know.

Each week, you should check first of all the Weekly Announcement on Blackboard and then give the Weekly Assignments a look; then click to the blog to watch the weekly video(s).

Now, as I have suggested in more than one place, circumstances required me to rewrite completely this course a couple years ago; I continue to revise this term (Spring 2016) because we use a new edition, so please contact me right away when you find any errors or contradictions--or confusions. You will not hurt my feelings.  

The company has begun to issue new editions each year, but not all that much changes from edition to edition--pagination can, however, be an issue.

Mostly, however, you will not have a problem figuring things out.  I give you a choice of writing topic this week, either the Case Study from Edition 9 or Edition 10 and 11.  Use your imagination.

Because this class now fulfills requirements for Technology and Its Application, we will experiment with a variety of on-line programs, from Twitter to Blogs.   


If you have any questions, contact me.

To add to some confusion with dates, this class used to get offered the second eight weeks, so do not worry about the dates mentioned in some of the videos.



If and when I add a new video, you will find the video on this page.

As a general rule, written assignments, quizzes, and discussion threads must be completed by midnight Sunday of the week assigned:  For this week, I will leave the threads open until midnight Monday, so complete your written  work by midnight, January 18.

But remember that you must post on the discussion thread or take the quiz before Sunday, January 17, or you will get dropped from the class.




NEW (2015) WELCOME TO THE CLASS





I try to respond quickly to e-mail communications.

Again, welcome to Technical Communication, an exciting and informative course on which I look forward to working with you.

Good luck with the semester's beginning. And make sure, too, to give the older video your attention, for the video contains useful information, so relax and view both videos before you get going.

And give the old video your attention.