1. Unit 1: Communicating in the IT Industry
Written communication
Unit 1: Communicating in the IT Industry

2. Written vs Spoken Variations across different categories
Different uses,
different set-up,
different language

3. Errors in writing
But isn‛t one person‛s mistake another‛s standard usage?
“You have the right to express yourself
in any manner you please, but if you wish to communicate effectively, you should use
nonstandard English only when you intend to, rather than fall into it because you don‛t
know any better.”
Paul Brians, Common Errors in English Usage

4. Common errors The Apostrophe Agreement Redundant comparatives
Dramatic overstatement
Dangling or misplaced modifiers
Informality
Slang or dialect (‘could have’)
Miscellaneous:
Who and whom
“Changing the Subject”
Technical Spelling

5. Examples of errors
One of the greatest philosophical problems ever discussed, this question has been pondered since the beginning of time by all people everywhere who have ceaselessly asked, why do people exaggerate?

6. Examples of errors
There will be a lecture on smoking as a cause of cancer in the Orr auditorium.

7. Examples of errors
It‛s sort of like a real bummer when people write like as though they were just talking right to you and making stuff up like they had never really thought about it before they did.

8. Reading errors It is really easy to misread something.
This makes proof-reading really difficult,
especially if we wrote the article in question – after all we now what it was supposed to say!
…and sometimes spell-checkers just don’t pig up the mistakes!
know
pick

9. Count the ‘f’s
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

10. The unreadable
I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.

11. Documents Letter Memo E‐mail Note Invoice Delivery note Purchase order
How many different types of documents can you think of?
Letter
Memo
E‐mail
Note
Invoice
Delivery note
Purchase order
Diagrams
Adverts
Cheque
Banknote
Agenda
Report
User guide
Charts
Illustrations
Text
Web page
Minutes
Leaflets
Essay
Tickets
Spreadsheet

12. Document Categories Short formal Extended formal Graphical Promotional
Presentation
Informal

13. Task
Arrange the various types of document into the categories (I suggest a table):
Short formal
Extended formal
Graphical
Promotional
Presentation
Informal
Note: some of the documents might appear in more than one category!

14. Templates
Word has lots of templates to help us arrange our work to make it look appropriate and business-like.
We just have to:
Choose the right template
Add any company name and logo
Add the content.

15. Create your company! Primary produce from nature
Secondary manufacture from above
Tertiary sell goods or services
Company name – based on owners name, what they do or where they operate – or a combination of these.
Logo picture, initials etc.
vector image that can be scaled.
5 primary sectors:
Forestry
Mining: fuel
Agriculture: fruit
Agriculture: wool
Mining: minerals/metal

16. Letter format
Exercise: Find a letter template, edit to use your company name and logo. Save that as a template.
Write a letter to a customer explaining why the product or service they recently bought was substandard and what you will do about it.
Yours faithfully , is used when we do not
know the person we are writing to.
Yours sincerely, is used if we know the
person we are writing to.

17. Memo format
Find a memo template. Format to suit your needs, giving it a company name (and possibly logo).
Then write a memo to advise your staff on one of the following:
the new memo format
the new buying policy
the name and role of a new member of staff.

18. Extension
Find examples of other documents and adapt them to your company.
Invoice
Delivery note
Purchase order
Adverts
Agenda
Minutes
Can you pass eg a purchase order to a potential supplier, or a delivery note and an invoice to a customer?

19. Understand the impact of IT on individuals, communities and society
Social Economic Legal Ethical

20. Assignment 2
P5 - select, set up and use a specialist communication channel to communicate and exchange information.
Blog
Wiki
Vlog
Podcast
VOIP

21. A2 task 2 (P6)
Write a letter to great aunt Mabel to describe the impact that IT is having on the local community, you should mention: economic issues eg employment structure, working practices, sustainability; legal issues eg ownership, copyright, plagiarism and ethical issues eg privacy of information; unequal access. Your letter should be about 300 words.

22. Task 3
Write a memo to the group leader explaining the potential threats which the use of IT has introduced to the local community. These threats could include cyber bullying on a personal level and denial of service attacks on businesses. You should include other examples in your memo and discuss the likelihood and possible severity of each threat you itemise. This memo should be about 300 words.

23. Task 4
Add to your memo from the previous task to explain to your group leader how you will ensure that the communication channel you are setting up will be safe and secure. Remember that this channel could be used for confidential data including personal information, organizational plans and financial data. This addendum should be about 200 words.