TC 310 The Computer in Technical Communication Dr. Jennifer Turns Week 4, Day 1 (10/21)

TC 310 – Student Feedback 1 Debriefing 1: –PowerPoint presentations and posters –Unpacking design decisions/professional activities What did you learn from debriefing 1,? –Other people’s strategies (2) –Ways to adapt presentation to audience (2) –Different features of PowerPoint –Creative ways to design with PowerPoint –Professional choices are not cut and dried –How to brand items –How to talk about professional activity Note: Bullets represent one response, unless otherwise noted in parentheses at the end of the response

TC 310 – Student Feedback 2 Debriefing 2: –Formatting and editing solutions –Choosing alternatives via professional opinion and user test What did you learn from debriefing 2? –Nice to see what others did (2) –Different strategies for editing/formatting (2) –No one right/wrong answer –Basic principles for designing all documents (accessibility, comprehensibility) –How to measure the effectiveness of a product –Trouble shooting (particularly by group, team, class) Note: Bullets represent one response, unless otherwise noted in parentheses at the end of the response

TC 310 – Student Feedback 3 What’s going well? –Learning new programs (5) –Assignments reasonable, pace of assignments (4) –Sharing of peer work (2) –Group functioning well (2) –Instructor keeps it interesting (2) –Enjoy subject matter Note: Bullets represent one response, unless otherwise noted in parentheses at the end of the response

TC 310 – Student Feedback 4 What’s could be going better? –Expectations for assignment, confusion about grading (3) –Concern about personal level of expertise (2) (e.g., assignments not up to par, idea of novice and expert versions of assignment) –Developing professional activity statement –Would like to see examples from the past –Working with partner in lab is stressful –Attention span because of length of class –Class participation –Finding time to redo projects Note: Bullets represent one response, unless otherwise noted in parentheses at the end of the response

Day 7 By the end of class, students should be able to: –Identify lessons acquired from Photoshop assignment –Describe assignment 4, including the concept of a sitemap –Use Visio to construct a variety of diagrams What we’ll do… –Debrief from assignment 3 - Photoshop –Discuss assignment 4 - Visio –Introduce/explore Visio

Debriefing, part 1 – Assignment 3 Open sharing –Each team puts all storyboards on one computer –Students rotate through room exploring solutions This us an opportunity to –See other potential solutions –Learn technology tricks –Hear about design strategies –Gain feedback from peers –Recognize/identify features of effective solutions –Get to know your colleagues

Debriefing, part 2 – Assignment 3 Setting context – Website design theme –Asgn 3: Storyboards (visual design) –Asgn 4: Sitemap (information structure) –Asgn 5: Design one page –Asgn 6: Design a multiple page website –Professional portfolio: Multiple page website Skills for website design –Technical skills - Photoshop, Visio, Dreamweaver, HTML –Conceptual knowledge Creating effective content Graphic/visual design Information design

Debriefing, part 2 – Assignment 3 Setting context – Website design theme –Asgn 3: Storyboards (visual design) –Asgn 4: Sitemap (information structure) –Asgn 5: Design one page –Asgn 6: Design a multiple page website –Professional portfolio: Multiple page website Skills for website design –Technical skills - Photoshop, Visio, Dreamweaver, HTML –Conceptual knowledge Creating effective content Graphic/visual design Information design Heuristic Evaluation

Debriefing, part 2 – Assignment 3 Process –Teams partner Team A, Team B –Evaluation using heuristic evaluation worksheet Team A evaluates storyboards for Team B Team B evaluates storyboards for Team A –Closure Teams identify best practices based on analysis Teams exchange feedback forms

Visio Visio supports development of diagrams Visio supports development of oodles of diagrams –Standard diagrams – block diagram –Formal diagrams – Gantt chart, entity relationship –Other diagrammatic representations – maps, office layouts Important functions –Visio uses “vector graphics” (smaller files, not pixel based) –Connectors are actually linked to objects

Looking Ahead Due Dates –Assignment 4 Monday (4/21) By class –Includes: Solution Key Features Design Rationale Learning Reflection Next Class – –More on site maps –Also –Background on Design –Group Editing in Word –Survey results –Photoshop work –Scanning!