English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

This week was nothing but a brainstorming and building week. I started talking with other group members about what we are going to have to do for the weeks coming. When it comes down to what I did to benefit the group this week, there isn't much that can be said due to the fact that all that was needed to be finished up was to come up with a subject to base this project on. One of the things that i did this week was start up communications with Zephyrus to talk about what we needed to do to complete the tasks at hand.

When it came down to coming up with ideas for the proposal of the White Paper project, many came to mind. We wanted to come up with an idea that if properly written could actually be used. We also wanted it to be an idea that could benefit our schools or communities. What we came up with was having schools switch from using Microsoft programs to using cheaper, if not free, open source programs. there are many institutions across the United States, primarily over seas, that are currently using open source programs as a way of saving money and expand knowledge.

After reading what we are supposed to be talking about I had no idea what it was that white papers were. After reading through some of the examples I was able to get some what of an idea of what white papers are. What I was able find out was that white papers are used as a medium to explain a certain topic or idea. White papers usually include a lot of different aspects. White papers include facts, statements, and persuasive information or statements that will help sell an idea.

After reading through both chapter 12 and instructor bog 6 I have come up with what I think will be the best way to test my list of instructions. Just like the instructor said in the blog, it is hard to use some of these tests with an online course, but there is one test that I believe is a good one that can be used. I decided to use the survey style of test for testing my instructions. I think this is the best test to use for me for a few reasons. The first is the obvious, this is an online course and not everyone has access to the same equipment.

1. Tent
2. Router
3. Waterpic
4. Chainsaw
5. Broadband
6. Cable Modem
7. Dell
8. Microwave
9. Dryer
10 Primo PDF
11.Printer

After reading through chapter 24, there really wasn't much that I found to be interesting. Most of the information that was presented in this chapter dealt with presenting pure facts in the form of a graph or table. Another large portion of this information talks about how to present graphics in order to persuade someone. This information doesn't directly affect my thoughts on this current project, but there was a few things that I found interesting. One main topic that I found appealing was the portion dedicated to explaining how to insert graphs and charts into a word document.

I thought about writing a set of instructions on how to change the oil on an automobile. The way the economy is going these days people are looking for more ways to save money. What better way to do that than change the oil in one's car themselves, rather than paying someone else to do it for them. These instructions are legitimate because changing oil can be an easy process and almost all vehicles are the same. Changing oil in automobiles is pretty much an universal process. So, one set of instructions apply to almost all types of vehicles.

After reading through all the resources about there was one thing that I noticed, I never knew that there was so much that went into creating a set of instructions for a product someone is trying to sell. I have always had an idea of what needs to be included in a set of instructions but never knew that writing a set of instructions was so involved. Chapter 19 goes into a great deal of depth in explaining how to write one's instructions. The bulk of this information deals with how to organize information while writing instructions.