What quote from the class readings do you find compelling, and why?
Human+machine culture represents both the hope of freedom from
inhuman work and the fear that humans will not be able to control the
machines they had made in their own image." (Longo 166)
I find this quote especially compelling as it succinctly explains the advantages and disadvantages of human+machine culture. The conundrum is truly a double-edged sword. This weekend, a friend in the theater community was telling me that a colleague of his was using AI to write grants for his organization. While I can see the advantages for this person, specifically not having to pay someone with expertise, saving time, etc., I am fearful of the implications for our profession. Not only do we have little understanding of how feeding these algorithms will ultimately play out, it could also potentially eliminate jobs.
If you could give yourself a professional title from the field of rhetoric and professional communication, what would it be, and why?
I would give myself the title of student advocate rhetorician. As a higher education professional firmly routed in the field, it is my hope to bring the lessons learned in this program to higher education to advocate and assist for our students by revisiting language in academic policy and student forms. As contemplated in module two, rhetoric and theory are essential to successful communication with one's audience. As such, I consider myself a rhetorician in this respect.
What "special issues" or topics from the reading list do you find especially interesting?
While there were several special issues topics that interested me, I ultimately had to narrow it down to one from: Design Thinking Approaches in Technical and Professional Communication. Journal of Business & Technical Communication, Vol 33 (4), Special Issue on Accessibility. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, vol. 64 (3), Human-Centered Design and the Field of Technical Communication. Journal of Technical Writing & Communication, 46 (4), and Online Teaching and Learning in Technical Communication: Continuing the Conversation. Given my interests, I ultimately decided on the latter.
While I perused several articles, I would highly recommend "Immersion, Reflection, Failure: Teaching Graduate Students to Teach Writing Online", "Developing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Online Technical Communication Programs: Emerging Frameworks at University of Texas at El Paso", and "Balancing Institutional Demands with Effective Practice: A Lesson in Curricular and Professional Development" for any instructors or those interested in trends in higher education.