Online Teaching and Learning in Technical Communication: Continuing the Conversation

Abstract

In 2007, Hewett and Ehmann Powers developed a special issue of Technical Communication Quarterly called "Online Teaching and Learning: Preparation, Development, and Organizational Communication" to consider organizational concerns and educators' necessary professional development preparation and strategies for teaching in online settings. This special issue focused specifically on the teaching and administration of online education in rhetoric and technical communication, with contributors writing about such topics as training concerns with regard to global settings (St.Amant, 2007), instructors' willingness and preparedness to teach online framed within cultural geography metaphors (Meloncon, 2007), and the need for immersing prospective online educators in the very environment into which they are expected to teach (Cook, 2007). Since the issue's publication 10 years ago, the number of distance students across the country has increased, with online education outpacing traditional onsite (often referred to as "face-to-face") enrollment (Kelly, 2015) and a reported 7.1 million students taking at least one online class (Allen & Seaman, 2014). Not coincidentally, the number of fully online and hybrid technical and professional communication (TPC) programs also has increased, with many institutions (e.g.,

4. (Teaching) Ethics and Technical Communication

“…This critique is not offered as a strawman representation of all online technical communication courses. The field's literature has provided ample evidence of robust, engaging, and varied approaches to teaching technical communication online: over the past 15 years, there have been two edited collections and two special issues devoted to the topic (Cargile Cook & Davie, 2013;Cargile Cook & Grant-Davis, 2005;Hewett & Bourelle, 2017;Hewett & Powers, 2007). The most recent special issue focused on training online technical communication instructors (Bartolotta et al, 2017;Grover et al, 2017;, including for cross-cultural and global communication courses (Gonzales & Baca, 2017;Thrush & Popham, 2013).…”

Fostering Communities of Inquiry and Connectivism in Online Technical Communication Programs and Courses

“…As increasing numbers of TPC programs are offered online, more research has begun to examine how teaching and learning can be supported on such programs (see, for example, Cleary et al., 2018; Hewett & Bourelle, 2017; Melonçon, 2007, 2017). Research into online writing instruction (OWI) contexts acknowledges the importance of community.…”

Using Multimedia for Instructor Presence in Purposeful Pedagogy-Driven Online Technical Writing Courses

“…Many universities offer online classes in technical and professional writing, and several universities offer fully online technical writing and communication programs (Hewett & Bourelle, 2017). As online technical writing course offerings grow, so do calls for improving professional development offerings for graduate students and faculty preparing to teach online (Grover et al., 2017).…”