Twitter: A Professional Learning Network

Twitter is a news and social networking application, used by people to communicate to their followers through the medium of images, videos, links, or short messages called Tweets.

Anyone aged 13+ can use Twitter to socialise, to follow people or topics of interest, to market a product, or to promote an event. Politicians use Twitter to promote their campaign. Musicians may use it to publicise a tour. Many people use Twitter to increase their knowledge in a particular area or, as an instructional designer I interviewed recently said, as “a professional learning network”.

Twitter allows users to send out short messages called Tweets. Tweets can contain up to 280 characters, which encourages the user to be succinct in their writing. Users can share videos, articles, up to four photos, and even other people’s Tweets (a retweet). Users can follow other people on Twitter and they are able to like or comment on other people’s tweets. Hashtags are often added to Tweets to connect the tweet with a particular topic. It is possible to message people privately on Twitter also. These message are called direct messages or DMs.

Prior to studying my Masters in Technical Communication and E-Learning, I used Twitter infrequently. In terms of personal use, I would search Twitter for things that were trending or to see live news updates, about an election for example. I am also in charge of a Twitter handle for a local theatre company. I use this profile to advertise upcoming productions and share any important theatre-related news.

I now have a third Twitter handle, which I am using as an educational tool. I find it invaluable in helping to keep up to date with trends and practices in the field of instructional design and technical writing. It has enabled me to tap into the experiences of expert instructional designers and to connect with others working in the field, both nationally and internationally. Twitter has encouraged me to seek out informative articles and to find blogs that are beneficial to my assignments.

Potential Benefits of Twitter

• The information on Twitter is ‘hot off the press’, so to speak. You can see live updates and opinions from instructional designers and technical writers.
• Hashtags allow you to search for topics of interest. For example, if you are looking for advice or inspiration on how best to present your e-portfolio, you can search #eportfolio, and the results will show advice, articles, and samples of e-portfolios.
• It enables the user to promote their own work and opinions, and to influence their followers. Users can do this by sharing a blog or article they have written.
• The 280 character limit is one of Twitter’s strong points. It encourages users to get their point across without any waffle. There is a skill to writing a clear, concise, engaging tweet.
• Users can connect with others working in their field and engage in conversation about topics of interest.

Potential Challenges of Twitter

• Although it is easy to search for topics on Twitter, it is not so easy to filter out the noise. Twitter can get overloaded with information and it can be difficult to sieve through it to find relevant material. For example, when searching for #eportfolios, you will get helpful results but they will be mixed in with a lot of tweets that are not relevant to your particular needs.
• Although I favour the character restriction, it can, on occasion, make it very difficult to present your message completely. Users overcome this issue by commenting underneath their original tweet with the rest of their message, but this is not ideal either. Users may not see the follow-up messages and misinterpret the original tweet.

This blog, from edublogger, teaches Twitter novices everything they need to know about Twitter. https://www.theedublogger.com/twitter/

Found in Translation

3 Things I Have Learned From the Translation Process

The week leading up to the February 25th deadline (when the document was to be handed over to the translators) really was a peak in the level of activity on Slack and Google Docs for Team 6. Even though we had been sticking to a schedule, and our work ethic was quite consistent, that week we seemed to become extra self-critical and began to notice all the negatives in our work.

By contrast, this week is relatively calm. The translators translated the document in jig-time (quickly) and they heightened my awareness of localisation in my writing.

What I Have Learned from the Translators

• Neutrality is important in an instructional document. We are writing instructions on how to use Google Forms. If we were writing the document for Google, we would try to promote the product as much as possible. However, our French team mates have drawn our attention to the fact that we are not writing for Google and that in certain parts of the document , it seems as if we are advertising the tool by overusing the term ‘Google Forms’. After many hours of editing, we did not see this error. However, it became blatantly obvious to us once pointed out by the translators. A fresh pair of eyes cannot be underestimated.
• Writers must think about the multiple meanings of words before using them. The word ‘simple’ became a discussion topic this week. It appeared in a heading; ‘How to Create a Simple Form’. The translators had some localisation issues with this. Again, they felt that this was influencing the user, which left the writers a tad confused. How could a ‘How to..’ heading influence the user. After some discussion, we realised that the translators equated the word ‘simple’ with ‘easy’, which is not wrong. However, the writers intended the word to mean ‘basic’ in this context, which is also not wrong.
• Sentences must be as complete as possible, so as to avoid confusion or misinterpretation. This is not new information, yet at times writers still presume the reader knows what we are talking about. The translators pointed out a few instances where sentences were not complete. For example, when describing how to create a form with multiple choice questions, our final step read, ” Repeat steps 1 to 4 until you have added all the questions required”. Our team mates suggested changing this to “…questions and answers…”. This may be stating the obvious to us, but perhaps not to a non-technical audience.

Localisation in the Virtual Project

The Virtual Project has entered the translation phase. After a busy week of editing, editing, and more editing, we finally handed our document over to our French colleagues for translation.

We were relieved with their initial report that the document seemed clear and straightforward to translate. However, the conversations currently happening in the Translation channel in Slack are sparking my interest.

We have explored localisation in a few lectures and readings. Until now it was still an abstract concept to me. I understood it but it was not something I had any hands-on experience with. I am excited to see this concept come to life in the translation phase, although it may add to our extensive to-do list.

The first query that arose was the phrase ‘pop quiz’. The translators interpreted this as a quiz on pop culture. As I researched the term pop quiz in order to give them a precise definition, it also dawned on me that ‘pop quiz’ is not a phrase commonly used in Ireland either. I know the phrase from American television, but I have never had a teacher who gave us a ‘pop quiz’. We were given tests or exams. Note taken: ‘pop quiz’ is not suitable for a global audience.

We began a step with the word ‘Continue’. For example, ‘Continue filling in all sections of the form’. In writing this document as a group, we overlooked this phrase and how it may not be the clearest way to instruct the user. The translators pointed out that this would not make sense if translated directly into French. They suggested we change ‘continue’ to ‘repeat steps ___ to ___’. This will make more sense in French and it makes the step clearer for English-speaking users.

The translators’ input will lead to some changes to the document. Some team members are reluctant to go back into the editing phase and I understand this reluctance. The editing phase took a long time and we realised the more we looked at the document the more we would change. It was a relief to hand it over to the translators. However, I have learned from the editing phase and from my previous post that it is essential that we have a strategy before we start making any changes. Formulating such a strategy is my goal for next week.

A Working Relationship Built on Emojis

Over the past few days, I have been looking at the communication challenges identified by Flammia et al. (2016), and cannot help but reflect on the communication styles on display in our own virtual collaboration project.

Flammia et al. (2016) describe four categories of communication styles and their challenges:

1. Direct/ Indirect Communication Styles:  Speakers with an indirect communication style do not express themselves explicitly and avoid bluntness. They focus on not upsetting the group. I think this reflects the mentality of a lot of Irish people. In my experience, we are concerned that stating things too bluntly or directly may be perceived as rudeness. To use a common Irish saying, we do not want “to put anyone out”; Translation: we do not want to upset or put any undue pressure on anyone. This results in a communication style fraught with ambiguity, which may be understandable to Irish people, but confusing to other nationalities, even native English speakers. However, from my point of view, the Irish faction of our team have been living up to the name of technical communicators by being as direct (yet polite) as possible. The chat groups have been clear, with the occasional clarification needed now and then.
2. Elaborate/ Exact/ Succinct Communication Styles: Flammia et al. (2016) define this style as a continuum, with ‘elaborate’ and ‘succinct’ on opposite ends, and ‘exact’ situated in between the two. The terms are self-explanatory: an elaborate communication style is long-winded in nature with the use of ornate language, and a succinct communication style uses the minimum words necessary. As I reflect on our Slack chat groups, I would identify the team’s communication style as being mostly ‘exact’. The Irish group sometimes appears to sway to the more elaborate side of exact but this may be due to the fact that we outnumber the other groups, or have not progressed on to the translation phase of the process. Our position on the continuum may alter as the project progresses on to other stages, where some participants will become more involved, and possibly more vocal, than others.
3. Instrumental/Affective Communication Styles: As the project manager for this assignment, I have strived to use an instrumental communication style at all times. An instrumental style is specific and conveys a message as clearly as possible. During meetings, I have attempted to have a well-defined agenda and ensure that I make my point understandable to the whole team. This communication style is very effective in this forum as it has led to our success in delegating tasks, organising a schedule, and providing constructive feedback.
4. Personal/Contextual Communication Styles: In a personal communication style, the speaker places emphasis on himself/herself. In a contextual communication style, the emphasis is on the group. In the latter, the speaker uses ‘we’ instead of ‘I’. I would not have thought about these communication styles before this week and I cannot say, as of yet, which bracket the members of our team fall into. However, so far the team has been working harmoniously, looking out for one another, and giving words of encouragement where necessary. This may indicate that we are employing a contextual communication style. In other words, the team is thinking of the group as a whole and not emphasising themselves over anyone else.

Non-Verbal Communication

Flammia et al. (2016) emphasise the importance of non-verbal communication. They point out that the inability to communicate non-verbally with a virtual team may interfere with overall communication. My virtual team are communicating through chat groups on slack. It is difficult to convey the correct tone or emotion in a written message, particularly when most of the group have never even met face-to-face. We are not familiar with our colleagues’ personalities, and yet we are striving to build up a positive, friendly working relationship. To help convey the tone and emotion behind our messages, quite a few of us have started using emojis. We don’t overuse them but they have proven to be useful in lightening the tone or conveying when we are joking about something. It may not seem like a very professional approach, and it probably would not go down well in the working world. However, it has definitely helped build a good balance of work and play. In fact, I was looking at this blog post by Someone Somewhere:

https://zedie.wordpress.com/2018/07/17/what-your-emojis-say-about-you/

This blog discusses how psychologists are investigating the effects of emoji use in communication. They have found that emojis enable non-verbal communication and add to the clarity of a message. Our virtual team group chats are the living proof of these findings.

References:

Flammia, M., Cleary, Y. and Slattery, D. (2016) Virtual teams in higher education, Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.