There hasn't been much writing here because there's been a fair amount of writing elsewhere. Emails to groups and individuals as well as tweets present a cumulative rival to the blogging that might have otherwise happened here. I think it appropriate, though, to mark the end of this particular week. In a way, it has already been marked by the last student-led facilitation of the semester, which occurred this past Tuesday. In each section of #345tw, the facilitation was a fitting end to the most overt collaborative aspects of the course. The M1 group concluded their facilitation with some friendly reminders about what technical writing is, does, and why. Earlier on, there were helpful nods to technologies that might assist in the production of technical documents as well as some forward-looking comments specific to the task analysis. The M2 group's facilitation held an exclusive focus on the task analysis that I think handled a potentially complex document format/style quite well. Awareness of audience and the tasks that audience will undertake are of paramount importance in technical communication, so I'm glad to see students' work reflecting that.
Writing of work, blogging (posts & comments) and tweeting will be with us until Week 15 (and, make no mistake, they are collaborative in nature), but the facilitations and projects are over and done with. Our major focus now is the individual project, producing the documents necessary to its ultimate production. Blogging and tweeting can (and perhaps should) be in the service of that project and its constituent parts. We are surely in the proving grounds now, having compiled knowledge of and experience with elements of technical communication and now ready to perform.
Even as I write now, my Twitter feed updates with the hashtag "#345tw." Audience analsyes are streaming in, the latest knowledge performances, and I look forward to reading them in the week almost upon us.
Also: #345tw students should look for individual emails about overall course progress. These will continue the conversations begun earlier in the semester about being in accordance with the grading contract. Many of those conversations were fruitful and helpful, so I trust future discussions will be, too.