PTC 601 Course Organizer

Topic

Discussion Posting Assignments (F)

Homework Assignments (T)

Week 1: Introduction to PTC 601 and to working in WebCT. See Welcome and Introductions

Policies for Online Discussions
Discussion Board, "Welcome and Introductions" and "Self Inventory " postings. Due Friday, 1/25/08.
Responses to two peers' postings. Due Monday, 1/28/08.

No "official" homework due this week. Use this time to read through course materials.

Week 2: Introduction to Technical Communication ; Grammar; See Week 2.

Discussion Board, "What is Technical Communication?" Please use this STC Contest scenario for our discussion. Due Friday 2/1/08.
Respond to one peer's Assignment 1.Are the identified skill sets accurate? Why or why not? Is the roadmap for success reasonable? Why or why not? Due Monday, 2/4/08.

Assignment 1 to be posted to the Discussion Board "Assignment 1_Skills for Success as a Technical Communicator." Due midnight Tuesday 1/29/08. 5 points

Week 3: Creating a Professional Portfolio (Part I) Successful Technical Writing: Audience, Purpose, and Context of Use . See Week 3

Discussion Board, "Successful Technical Writing." Due Friday 2/8/08. .
Select one peer's resume and review from the perspective of a technical communication manager. Due Monday, 2/11/08.

Assignment 2 to be posted to the Discussion Board "Assignment 2_Resume." Due midnight Tuesday 2/5/08. 5 points

Week 4: Marketing and Sales Letters: Applying for a Job. See Week 4.

Discussion Board,"Nail the Interview and Get a Job." Play the Online Interview Game and ask and answer questions in Discussion Board. Due Friday 2/15/08.

Assignment 3 to be posted to the Discussion Board "Assignment 3_ Letter of Application." Due midnight Tuesday 2/12/08.. 5 points

Week 5: Information Literacy: Researching and Managing Information. Writing the Introduction; See Week 5

Discussion Board, "Evaluating Web Sources." Due Friday 2/22/08.

Assignment 4 to be posted to the Discussion Board "Technical Description." Due midnight Tuesday 2/19/08. 5 points

Week  6: Using Plain Language for International Audiences. See Week 6.

Discussion Board, "Plain Language."Due Friday 2/29/08.
Discussion Board, "Buona Fortuna Barista." Also due Friday 2/29/08.

Assignment 5 to be posted to the Discussion Board "Technical Instructions." Due midnight, Tuesday 2/26/08. 5 points

Week  7: Tools of the Trade: Using Wikis. See Week 7.

Assess the class. Post to the Discussion Board, " The Class So Far."Due Friday 3/7/08.
Post to the Discussion Board, "International Audiences" (Isao Kato) . Due Friday 3/7/08.

Assignment 6 to be posted to the Discussion Board "Wikipedia Entry." Due midnight Friday 3/7/08 (if possible; if not submit by midnight Sunday 3/9/08) 5 points

Week 8: Usability and User-Centered Design. See Week 8

Post to the Discussion Board, "Technical Presentations" (Anu Goyal). Due Friday, 3/14/08

Assignment 7 to be posted to the Discussion Board "Heuristic Evaluation."Due midnight Tuesday 3/18/08 (I promised no assignments due during Spring Break;you may submit Assignment 7 on Monday, 3/24/08 if you wish, but no later. The information in your heuristic evaluations is needed for the Visio map and the Heuristic Report)
5 points

Spring Break

Spring Break

No assignment/class 3/18/08

Week  9:Creating and Using Visuals . See Week 9

Post to the Discussion Board, "Plain Language" (Tim Nicholson). Due Friday 3/28/08.

Assignment 8 to be posted to the Discussion Board "Visio Map ." Due midnight Tuesday 4/1/08. (Even if all of the data from the Heuristic Evaluations are not available, start early to download Visio and draft the basic structure of the map). You may submit this assignment earlier or with your Heuristic Report.
5 points

Week 10: Usability continued

Post to the Discussion Board, "Ethics in Writing" (Bethany Gilmour). Due Friday 4/4/08.

Assignment 9 to be posted in Discussion Board, "Heuristic Report." Due midnight Tuesday 4/1/08 .
10 points

Week 11: Defining the Local Site and Creating a New Page

Post to the Discussion Board, "Accessing the Tool " Due Friday, 4/11/08

Assignment 10_Site Plan to be posted to the Discussion Board "Site Plan." Assignment 10 Persona and Task Profiles for Advanced Web Designers to be posted to Discussion Board "Persona and Task Profiles." Due midnight Tuesday 4/15/08
5 points

Week  12: Adding Content and Creating Links

Post to the Discussion Board "New Media" (Rich Chinery). Due Friday, 4/18/08.
Also, respond to peers' postings of ePortfolio pages as they are updated.
Evaluate course. A pop-up window should provide a link for an anonymous online evaluation of PTC 601 when you log into WebCT.

Assignment 11 to be posted in Discussion Board, " Demonstration of ePortfolio Pages with Content and Links." Due midnight Tuesday 4/18/08
5 points

Week  13: Publishing your Site

Post to Discussion Board "Visual Design" (Jocelyne Shangase). Due Friday, 4/25/08
Also, respond to peers' postings of ePortfolio pages as they are updated.

Assignment 12 to be posted in Discussion Board, "Demonstration of ePortfolio on NJIT Server." Due midnight Tuesday 4/22/08

Week  14: Developing Visual Design

Respond to peers' postings of ePortfolio pages as they are updated. Due Friday, 5/2/08

Assignment 13 to be posted in Discussion Board, " Demonstration of ePortfolio with Visual Design." Due midnight Tuesday 4/29/08

Week 15

Discussion Board, "Peer Review of All e-Portfolios." Due Monday 5/5/08

Assignment 14 to be posted in Discussion Board, "Final Portfolio." Due midnight Monday 5/5/08. 10 points
Diagnostic Test Must be Successfully Completed by This Date