What's New in MyTechCommLab?

As is the case with any good technology, MyTechCommLab is improving every day. The Pearson Media Team is committed to providing high quality features and content to help instructors teach and students learn. The changes listed below are the result of the feedback we've received from our users—instructors and students alike. Thank you for being part of our team!

Your feedback is valuable to us! Please feel free to email your comments and suggestions to EnglishLabs@pearson.com.

New Enhancements for Winter/Spring 2011!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Pearson is proud to announce our next-generation MyTechCommLab. Taking the market-leading resources for technical communication that users have come to identify with the program, the new MyTechCommLab integrates those resources with an easier-to-use, streamlined navigation and a suite of course management tools that will save you time. In addition, our content library has been extended to include more assessment and interactive content, including a collection of model documents and document design content.

The new MyTechCommLab empowers student writers and facilitates writing instruction by uniquely integrating a composing space and ePortfolio with proven resources and tools. In this revolutionary application, students receive feedback within the context of their own writing—encouraging critical thinking and revision while honing their skills based on individual needs.

Here are some additional features you will find in the new MyTechCommLab:

• More intuitive, familiar navigation. The top navigation bar has been replaced by a left-hand navigation tree.
• Composing Space. In the easy-to-use composing space, which looks and functions like the most popular word processing programs, resources are available at a student's fingertips as they research, draft, and revise; students can get the help they need when they need it, without ever leaving their writing environment. Students can also upload documents that are in other file types. All student work in the course can be saved in MyTechCommLab so instructors are able to access and manage their students' writing in one place.
• Adaptive To Do list and Study Plan. Each student's Study Plan will adapt based on her diagnostic results, assets required by the instructor, or comments made by the instructor on her writing submissions. The student can track the status of all assignments and required activities on their To Do list.
• Portfolio. Students can create e-portfolios of their work that they can easily share with their instructor, other evaluators, and peers. Students can include multimodal compositions in their portfolios, export them as .html or PDF files, or continue adding to them throughout their college career and beyond.
  
• Assignments. Instructors can easily create and deliver assignments online and keep students on track by listing due dates and assignment details in one place.
  
• Gradebook. The flexible gradebook captures student grades from self-grading aspects of the site and grades given to writing assignments by the instructor, the Gradebook allows instructors to easily assess student and class progress.
  
• Support for section instructors (teaching assistants). Instructors can now assign "section instructors" (a.k.a., TA status) to course members.
  
• Interactive chat and whiteboard. Chat & ClassLive tools enable instructors and students to engage in synchronous chat and whiteboard sessions.
  
• Enhanced announcements manager. Announcements now have date and time display settings as well as expirations.
• Enhanced email manager. A native email manager allows users to more efficiently control course email.
  
• Enhanced document and file sharing. The document sharing tool allows instructors and students to post documents to be shared with the class. Instructors can use document sharing to post their syllabus and other course documents.
• Improved accessibility. Pearson is committed to making our content and technology accessible to all users. We've made changes throughout the application so the user interaction is consistent with Section 508 recommendations.
  
• Improved mobility. In the ongoing effort to make our content and technology mobile-ready, we've redeveloped media resources, including the Writing in Action, Common Grammar Errors, and Avoiding Plagiarism videos, to work across more platforms and devices.
  
• Model Documents Player. An updated, enhanced player makes it easier to navigate and view helpful annotations and writing samples, including emails, letters, presentations, and essays. It also works across more platforms and mobile devices, and is Section 508-compliant/accessible. Additional sample documents will be added to the Lab this year.
  
• Office Hours Plus. Completely updated videos address 10 topics useful for college writers, including writing process, avoiding plagiarism, and peer review.
  
• Grammar Podcasts. Additional podcasts have been added to the Resources and the Writer's Toolkit areas.
  
• Writing Strategies topics. This new section offers instruction and practice for 9 of the traditional modes or patterns, including Argument, Cause and Effect, Comparison and Contrast, Definition, Description, Division and Classification, Illustration, Narration, and Process writing.
• Writing in Action Videos. New instructional videos cover such writing purposes as Writing to Inform and Writing to Reflect.
• New eText Options. A new eText is available in both MyTechCommLab and the Pearson eText app.
• Introducing WriteClick! WriteClick is a powerful application that encourages writers to think critically about their writing, then review, edit, and revise effectively--anywhere they write. WriteClick instantly analyzes writing for grammar and spelling errors, provides suggestions on writing skills, and puts useful tools at the writer's fingertips. WriteClick is available at no additional cost with the MyLab. Learn more.

Your feedback is valuable to us! Please feel free to send us your comments and suggestions by emails us at EnglishLabs@pearson.com.