Preparing Technical Communication Students to Function as User Advocates in a Self-Service Society

Abstract

The self-service nature of today's 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 audience's 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.

Real-World User Experience: Engaging Students and Industry Professionals Through a Mentor Program

“…For technical and professional communicators (TPCs), understanding usersstudents or other institutional stakeholders-is not just a pretense to ensure users "get" the content, follow directions, or comply with product or process requirements. TPCs bring a unique reverence for user advocacy when defining, addressing, and evaluating problems (Andersen et al, 2013;Anschultz & Rosenberg, 2002;Brumberger & Lauer, 2015;Cargile Cook, 2002;Carliner, 2001;Ceraso, 2013;Cleary & Flammia, 2012;Hart-Davison, 2013;Johnson, , 2004aJohnson, , 2004bMirel, 2013;Rude, 2009;Schriver, 2013). This reverence for user advocacy can extend to pedagogical and curriculum design decisions.…”

The Golden Age of Technical Communication

“…One promising way to do so is to expand something we already do well and make a bigger deal about it: Experiential learning, often framed as service learning. As many have argued (see among others Cleary & Flammia, 2012; Coppola, 1999; Henson & Sutliff, 1998; Huckin, 1997; McEachern, 2001; Matthews & Zimmerman, 1999; Scott, 2004), this pedagogical approach gives students the opportunity to interact directly with potential audiences, to learn genres in context, and to recognize the activity networks or writing ecologies (Spinuzzi, 2003) in which technical documents arise and act. Our discipline’s preoccupation with the Profession has led at least to this benefit: That we tend to value teaching students how to use communication not just to express themselves, but to change the world in practical, highly transactional ways.…”

The Shape of Problems to Come

“…(p. 63) Smith makes it clear that nurses, along with countless other professionals, do not just "carry their work out," but carve out small pockets of agency where they enact the values of their profession. While technical communicators may not conduct such risky work on a day-to-day basis, much of technical communication's unseen labor is grounded in a similar form of advocacy that supports the needs and interests of historically disenfranchised users (Cleary & Flammia, 2012;Simmons, 2007).…”