Susan Codone

From chalkboard to PowerPoint to the Web: a continuum of technology

Historically, the chalkboard has been the medium of choice for delivery of classroom instruction. With the advent of the PC and audiovisual equipment, many teachers began using PowerPoint to deliver lectures. Now, however, technology-savvy students expect teachers to use the Web to deliver course materials and faculty are under increasing pressure from both students and administrators to Web-enable their courses. This work discusses how to help faculty become more proficient with media and technology in the classroom. In particular, we focus on our experiences with faculty in the School of Engineering at Mercer University. For the past three years, our faculty development center has been assisting faculty in learning how to use instructional technology. However, apart from the early adopters, faculty resistance was high due to lack of time, skill, motivation, or equipment. Recently, however, we have seen a dramatic increase in web-enabled courses and use of technology in the classroom. We discuss factors we think contributed to this increase, including the development of individual home page templates and training in a user-friendly Web editor, Macromedia Contribute.

A study of visual literacy in technical communication textbooks: a work in progress

The design of visual elements such as illustrations, graphics, and photos is a task facing many technical communicators. Practical understanding of the principles of design is necessary for quality print design products with visual elements, but even this may not be adequate for producing illustrations that users can quickly understand in a visual manner. Pairing the principles of print and textbook design with knowledge of visual communication theory aid technical communicators as they develop illustrations that are not only well-designed visually, but easy for audiences to understand. This paper reports the emerging results of a study to determine how well technical communication textbooks support visual learning by the quality and purpose of visual elements. Basic applications of visual communication theory are also interpreted to provide a knowledge base upon which successful print and visual documents can be built.

An Adaptation of the Original Fresno Test to Measure Evidence‐Based Practice Competence in Pediatric Bedside Nurses

PURPOSE Instruments used to assess evidence-based practice (EBP) competence in nurses have been subjective, unreliable, or invalid. The Fresno test was identified as the only instrument to measure all the steps of EBP with supportive reliability and validity data. However, the items and psychometric properties of the original Fresno test are only relevant to measure EBP with medical residents. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe the development of the adapted Fresno test for pediatric nurses, and provide preliminary validity and reliability data for its use with Bachelor of Science in Nursing-prepared pediatric bedside nurses. METHODS General adaptations were made to the original instruments case studies, item content, wording, and format to meet the needs of a pediatric nursing sample. The scoring rubric was also modified to complement changes made to the instrument. Content and face validity, and intrarater reliability of the adapted Fresno test were assessed during a mixed-methods pilot study conducted from October to December 2013 with 29 Bachelor of Science in Nursing-prepared pediatric nurses. RESULTS Validity data provided evidence for good content and face validity. Intrarater reliability estimates were high. LINKING EVIDENCE TO ACTION The adapted Fresno test presented here appears to be a valid and reliable assessment of EBP competence in Bachelor of Science in Nursing-prepared pediatric nurses. However, further testing of this instrument is warranted using a larger sample of pediatric nurses in diverse settings. This instrument can be a starting point for evaluating the impact of EBP competence on patient outcomes.

Megachurch Pastor Twitter Activity: An Analysis of Rick Warren and Andy Stanley, Two of America’s Social Pastors

Mainstream church leaders have taken to Twitter as a platform for spreading their message and promoting their churches. This study examines two American mega-church pastors, Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, and Andy Stanley of North Point Community Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The main objectives of this study are to analyse the Twitter activity of both pastors in an attempt to categorize their tweets according to research-based guidelines and to suggest new categories for ministry leaders who use social media. The study also tracks the Twitter activity over the life of the @rickwarren and @andystanley accounts. The study shows intriguing applications of Twitter by these two pastors and makes recommendations for those in ministry leadership who wish to use Twitter as a broadcast platform for their personal and ministry messages. Because research in ministerial use of social media is young, future studies are needed to determine if these recommendations can apply to the social media activity of other ministry leaders and to explore how ministry leaders across the religious spectrum are using social media.

Megachurch website design: Faith-based expressions of organizational identity and purpose

One type of organization taking web design seriously is the church-in particular, the Protestant “megachurch,” defined as a church with over 2,000 members. Large churches operate as information-based organizations that are increasingly using “technical” information to communicate to both local and global audiences. These large churches are using their websites not just for information, but also for persuasion, outreach, member efficiency, and broadcast purposes. This paper will examine the websites of five randomly-chosen U.S.-based megachurches and report seven common practices in attempting to use trends in website design and management to reach multiple audiences with a faith-based message. This paper will also report the mistakes that many megachurches make in information design and audience identification and analysis. After an examination of current megachurch website design trends, the paper will conclude with recommendations for best practices in web design and management for churches that desire a strong and robust web presence.

Decision Point: IT Infrastructure Mismatch

In the defense industry, quality training is key to the military success of our troops. Increasingly, more training is developed for delivery in an online format, as “e-learning†?a convenient and cost-effective alternative to instructor-led training. With a learning management system such as the U.S. Navy uses, courses developed by contractors are posted into its database and accessed by naval users across the world. The Defense Source Company is an industry leader in defense products and services, including training. There are two divisions that provide such training, but there are differences in orientation and infrastructure that muddy the situation when developing training. This case provides an overview of this defense contractor with two related divisions that both offer similar resources. Readers are challenged to understand the infrastructure resources of both divisions and to decide what should be done with them for the ultimate success of the company.

The role of the multimedia project manager in a changing online world

Traditional project management principles are derived from engineering projects, where many of the details are specified up front. In fact, established project management procedures come from a functional setting, such as engineering, where links between time, design and production are clearly defined. Multimedia project management guidelines, in turn, usually encircle a somewhat more creative path through development and production, leaving room for more richly developed media that takes more time to create. Online multimedia production offers more time for creative idea development, increased prototyping and testing, and a longer time span for changes to be made. The online multimedia production process offers typical phases like planning, design, development, testing, and delivery, but usually manages production in a more open and creative manner - which in turn makes the creation and management of multimedia just a little more difficult from traditional projects. This paper will explore the project management of online multimedia products and how it differs from traditional project management.

Program Assessment in Technical Communication: A Work in Progress

A basic set of common competencies in technical communication would both ensure the continuity of professional practice and unify the perspectives of undergraduate programs. The problematic issue facing technical communication educators is that of developing these basic competencies and then assessing the program and its learners to determine if they are being developed. Through identification of these competencies and evaluation to determine if our graduates have acquired them, technical communication programs can achieve a measure of unity on which to build a platform of well educated professionals with common knowledge, skills and abilities. This paper will discuss an assessment model that identifies and measures these basic competencies.

Electronic Portfolios: Making Their Presence Known

An electronic portfolio is a gathering of materials by students that are suitable for online delivery and typically delivered through a Web site. In a higher education environment, these materials can include course assignments, personal expressions of creativity, resumes, and other documents that may shed light on the skills of the designer. The creation of electronic portfolios by students allows them to express their learning in a very different way than in the classroom environment. Students must creatively design an online environment customized to their personal styles and interests. Doing this requires a level of communication and expression that is often deeper and more complex than what typically occurs in a classroom

Simulation Jr: - using modified problem-based learning in technical communication undergraduate courses

Teaching technical communication concepts and skills to undergraduate students is enhanced by the presence of simulated experiences. While pure simulation is impossible to achieve, problem-based learning (PBL) is a reliable method by which students can practice their evolving technical communication skills in situations that seem realistic. Although PBL is not simulation, it does provide the ability for students to be immersed into pseudo-real world scenarios, thus encouraging them to take more responsibility for their own learning and apply their knowledge at successively higher levels. This paper describes the implementation of a modified PBL instructional strategy within an undergraduate technical communication course and how PBL provides some of the benefits of simple simulation.