Tuesday, 13 July 2004: 9:30 AM-10:30 AM

Oceanic 2 (Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel)

A-6: Developing Ethos in the WebCT Professional Communication Classroom: Diverse Voices

Detailed Description:A visual overview of an online writing course’s design begins the discussion of developing instructor and student ethos. Then, an overview of activity theory provides a foundation for recommendations and observations for encouraging the development of ethos online. An online course, Professional Communication I, will be used as the basis for discussion, along with several examples from both myself and students as we attempt to establish ethos during the course of a semester.
Presentation Format:Paper
Topic:Enabling learning: Effective instructional practices and flexible design models
Target Audience:Course Designers, Faculty and Other Instructors
Appropriate Audience Level:Beginning or new users of WebCT, Experienced WebCT users
Abstract Text:Online teaching implies that multiple faculty and student voices will have a chance to be heard. The WebCT environment contains some characteristics (like the option to include formal titles in email and discussion messages) that maintain some hierarchy, while other characteristics (such as the parallel nature of the appearance of discussion messages) enforce blending that results in seeming parity among voices.

This paper begins with a visual context of how an online writing course’s design sets the stage for the development of instructor and student ethos. Then, an overview of activity theory provides a foundation for recommendations and observations for encouraging the development of ethos online. An online course I developed, Professional Communication I, will be used as the basis for the discussion, along with several examples of efforts made by both myself and students to establish ethos during the course of a semester. The presentation combines both theory and practical application through the context/interface of WebCT.

Developing an effective ethos through the online interface is essential for both instructors and students. Instructors need to preserve some type of authority and interaction among students as they communicate course goals, feedback on writing assignments, and viewpoints on diverse issues through the discussion board. Student writers/communicators must develop ethos as they establish identities and collaborate with other students about paper ideas, revision suggestions, and issues such as effective website design that comprise the course content.

While developing ethos is essential when students communicate online, while developing written products, the process of creating the ethos is often difficult, a process exaggerated by distance, absence of communication at times, and miscommunication characterized by apparent lack of emotion. Studying the process of developing ethos through WebCT can enhance instructors’ and students’ attempts to create effective personas during somewhat limited interaction in an online writing course.



Session Leader:Kristin D. Walker
Tennessee Technological University

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