From Word Processing to Datatizing:How Close or Far Are We from the Frontier of

Knowledge?

Baotong GuGeorgia State University

bgu@gsu.edu Computers & Writing Conference

Lubbock, TX, May 2006

Research Question

Overriding question: what and how do we teach about technology?

Rationale: we’ve already answered the question of why, but not really what and how.

A Problem: a tendency to pursue cutting-edge/high-end technology

The Effect: over emphasis on technical proficiency The Cause: equation between technical proficiency and

digital/electronic literacy

Defining Literacy

Computer Literacy

• Skills required to use the computer Digital/Electronic Literacy

• “the practices involved in reading, writing, and exchanging information in online environments as well as the values associated with such practices—social, cultural, political, educational.” --Selfe, Cynthia and Gail E. Hawisher. (2002).

"A historical look at electronic literacy: Implications for the education of technical communicators."

Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 16, 3. pp. 231-276.

Key Aspects of Digital Literacy Technology is part of literacy. Literacy exists within a complex cultural ecology of social,

historical, and economic effects. Race and class are important factors in acquiring digital

literacy. TC programs need to value and teach both emerging and fading

literacy practices. Technical communicators need to teach themselves emerging

forms of electronic literacy. Access to computers and to the acquisition and development of

electronic literacy must be understood as a vital, multidimensional part of a larger cultural ecology.

--Selfe and Hawisher, 2002, pp. 260-269

Current Pedagogical Practice

Teaching writing skills (genres, rhetorical context) Teaching about the profession (current practice,

industry standards, etc.) Teaching software applications (desktop publishing,

web design, servers, databases) Teaching the rhetorical use of software applications

(using software effectively to serve your purposes)

Problems with Pedagogical Practice?

Focus on writing and writing technology Confusing means with end

• Writing and writing technology mistaken for an end rather than a means

• Teaching software, the medium, seen as a means

• Literacy, the real end, getting neglected Little reflection on the use of technology Too much focus on technical proficiency

--Hart-Davidson, Bill and Steve Krause. (2004). "The future of computers and writing: A multivocal textumentary." Computers and Composition, 21, 1. pp. 147-159.

What Now? Content Management as a Possible Solution

What is content management?

• the “process of collecting, managing, and publishing information to whatever medium you need” (Boiko 2005, p. xv).

• how information is created, stored, represented, and accessed most effectively and efficiently within any given organization.

What are content management systems?

• software that “provides a platform for managing the creation, review, filing, updating, distribution, and storage of structured and unstructured content” (White 2002, p. 20)

• Software that allows to “datatize” text, separate form from content, and make it possible to search, sort, and repurpose information on the fly

Content Management Approach:New Roles of Technical Communicator

An epistemic perspective on technical communication A re-conception of the notion of authorship and the

writer/reader relationship (Erin Smith) A re-conceptualization of writer’s role: from the

creator of content to the manager of information New roles for technical communicators: member,

manager, owner, reviewer, in addition to graphic designer, code developer, content manager, and usability/accessibility expert (Kuralt and Williams)

Content Management Approach:Promises and Requirements

Managerial capabilities Collaborative relationships More balanced power between technical communicators and

their managers (Sauer and Warnick) A shift from creation of content to its delivery The need to teach students how to analyze the technological

situation and then select the most appropriate technological strategies: to discover technology’s limitations, to interrogate tool availability within and without an organization, and to articulate alternative software selections (McShane)

Content Management Approach:Challenges

The rhetorical choice of one data structure over another (Karl Stolley)

Decontextualized chunks of content and challenges to the conventional rhetorical expertise of technical communicators (Rebekka Andersen)

New technology transfer and localization practices The potential conflict between developing “content as

discrete blocks of information” and developing “text as coherent, unified passages” (Gattis)

Content Management: Critical Steps

Step 1. Understanding Your SituationYour organization’s needs

Your customers’ needs

Your information

Your process of publication and distribution

Technology

Content Management: Critical Steps

Step 2. Designing Your Information Model

• Breaking information down to elements (sections, paragraphs, sentences, etc.)

• Single sourcing your information and storing in databases for content reuse

• Designing information products (brochures, user guides, online tutorials)

Content Management: Critical Steps

Step 3. Designing/Selecting Your CMS (Technology)

• Authoring tools

• Content management tools

• Content delivery tools

Content Management: Critical Steps

Step 4. Datatizing Your Information (Building Metadata)

• Establishing a data system

• Labeling, cataloging, and describing your data

• Organizing your data for

• Quick retrieval

• Easy content reuse

• Status tracking

Content Management: Critical Steps

Step 5. Repurposing and Rhetoricizing Your Content: The End Product

• Converting your structured, datatized content into a contextualized, user-centered information product

• Appropriating information for customers’ needs

(Adapted from “Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy” by The Rockley Group. http://www.asponline.com/enterprisecontent.pdf.)

Pedagogically Speaking…

Traditional Assignments Feature oriented

• Lack of a task orientation Task oriented

• Lack of concern for user needs and context variables User centered

• Lack of a strategic vision about the process and information needs, such as content reuse and version updating

Pedagogically Speaking:Two Different Approaches

Sample 1—A traditional web design project

Sample 2—A web design project informed by a content management approach

Sample 1—A traditional web design project

Sample 2—A web design project informed by a content management approach