Madelyn Flammia

Leadership Roles, Socioemotional Communication Strategies, and Technology Use of Irish and US Students in Virtual Teams

Global virtual teams provide numerous benefits for corporations employing virtual organizational forms and for individual teams and team members. However, virtual collaboration also presents some well-recognized challenges. A growing body of research has examined the process of virtual teaming and the challenges inherent in that process. This study seeks to address some of the gaps in the existing literature. Specifically, it examines leadership roles, socioemotional communication strategies, and the use of technology to establish relational links among team members. The study focuses on virtual-team collaboration among technical communication students at the University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland, and at the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida.

Preparing technical communication students to play a role on the translation team

Technical communicators need to be prepared for the challenges of international communication. This tutorial focuses on the need for technical communication faculty to prepare students to be skilled intercultural communicators and to play a role on the translation team. The tutorial begins with a discussion of the importance of writing for translation in the international workplace and then presents specific assignments designed to instruct students in intercultural communication and give them experience writing for translation. In addition to introducing students to the cultural issues that impact the creation of documentation for international audiences, these assignments also serve to reinforce core skills recognized as vital to professional success in the field of technical communication. Taken together, these assignments can be used as the basis for a course in international technical communication. An appendix to the tutorial includes numerous resources available to faculty who want either to develop a course in international technical communication or to include some of the assignments in existing technical communication courses.

PREPARING TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION STUDENTS TO FUNCTION AS USER ADVOCATES IN A SELF-SERVICE SOCIETY

The self-service nature of todays society means that technical communicators are needed more than ever before since users may find themselves struggling to make sense of online documentation with minimal support from the institutions that provide it. Certain demographics within the user population (older adults, disabled persons, non-native speakers) may face serious challenges when trying to use self-service documentation. Technical communication educators should prepare students to function as user advocates for members of these groups. Technical communication students need a thorough understanding of the challenges that may interfere with an audiences ability to use websites and other online documentation. This article suggests ways to help students gain this understanding through course content and by structuring service-learning and virtual team projects in which students can put their newly-developed understanding into practice.

The challenge of getting technical experts to talk: why interviewing skills are crucial to the technical communication curriculum

Those involved in journalism and communication programs recognize the need to teach students interviewing theory and techniques. Technical communicators rely on interviews for a significant percentage of the information they need to do their jobs. Interviewing techniques are ranked in the top ten topics that technical communicators think should be taught in technical writing programs. The author describes a course with a general focus on interviewing skills and a particular emphasis on the challenges technical communicators face in the interview situation. >

Global virtual teams create and translate technical documentation: Communication strategies, challenges and recommendations

Since 2013, students from the University of Limerick (UL), the University of Central Florida (UCF), and Université Paris Diderot (UPD) have collaborated on a documentation and translation assignment in virtual teams. The UL and UCF students, who study technical communication, collaborate to write procedural documents. The UPD students translate the documents into French. A key feature of the project design is the need for collaboration among the document writers and translators throughout the process. This paper provides a theoretical background to the project and describes the assignment that student teams collaborate on. It then offers guidelines for faculty wishing to organize similar projects.

A Desktop Publishing Course: An Alternative to Internships for Rural Universities.

Technical writing programs housed in geographically isolated universities face great challenges in regard to getting students career‐related work experience. A course in desktop publishing can provide students at rural schools with experience equivalent to internships. In the desktop publishing course I taught at Murray State University, in addition to learning principles of layout and design, students faced many challenges like those that will confront them in the workplace. They worked on projects that entailed real financial constraints and deadlines; they were required to modify their work after receiving reviews from several different individuals. In addition to providing students with experience, the course provided benefits to the university in terms of services and public relations.

Using service-learning and global virtual team projects to integrate sustainability into the technical communication curriculum

Technical communication students need to be prepared to address issues of sustainability in their professional careers and in their personal lives as concerned global citizens. Sustainability is truly a global issue; environmental concerns do not stop at national borders. In order to address complex global issues like sustainability, technical communication students need to develop global competency. The skill set associated with global competency includes knowledge of intercultural communication, respect for cultural differences, and awareness of the complex and interdependent nature of the world. Globally competent individuals are aware of the relationship between global and local events. Service-learning and global virtual team projects are effective means for facilitating the development of global competency in students. This paper describes specific projects and assignments that can be used to integrate sustainability issues into the curriculum and discusses the benefits of such projects to students, faculty, and the community.

Developing Strategies for Success in a Cross-Disciplinary Global Virtual Team Project: Collaboration Among Student Writers and Translators:

This article reports on a qualitative study of strategies and competencies used by technical communication and translation students to address challenges inherent in global virtual team collaboration. The study involved students from three universities collaborating in virtual teams to write and translate instructional documents. Qualitative content analysis of students’ reflective blogs and team transcripts was used to examine their experiences while collaborating. Students faced challenges related to communication, leadership, and technology, and developed various strategies to address those challenges. Although the students did not face cultural challenges, they reported increased awareness of cultural issues. Students also reported that the project helped them better understand the workplace and define career goals.

Visual rhetoric and cultural expectations: An online perspective

The spread of online access creates an environment in which cultural groups interact via visual media for many purposes including commerce, virtual work, education and training, and social exchanges. Because cultural differences influence rhetorical expectations of how information should be presented visually, individuals and organizations wishing to participate in the global online dialogue will need to understand cultural expectations related to visual rhetoric. The paper introduces a framework (based on ideas from rhetorical theory and prototype theory) that individuals can use to analyze visual displays in order to create more rhetorically effective materials for audiences from different cultures.

Distance education in a global age: An international perspective on online learning

Online courses can become international learning environments, but different factors can affect the successes of globalized online classes. This paper examines factors of technology and culture that can affect interactions in global learning environments.