This workshop will include a brief overview of plain language principles, plain language benefits and barriers, and plain language resources. After our introductory materials and discussion, we will lead multiple exercises for you to evaluate and revise sample online course content according to plain language guidelines.
Background: Plain language (also referred to as plain writing and plain English) is enjoying renewed attention in the United States after President Obama signed the Plain Writing Act of 2010 into law. While the Act requires all federal agencies in the United States to use clear communication so that readers understand content the first time it is read, no such mandate applies to institutions of higher education. While there is no current mandate to implement plain language in online learning materials, we have adopted and implemented plain language materials to increase online student success, increase online student satisfaction, and increase learning efficiency in the online environment for students and instructors.
Timeliness: At our institution, approximately one-third of student credit hours across programs and campuses are generated through distance education courses with a vast majority of distance courses offered online. As a campus with a high commuter and high English-Language Learner population, many students truly learn at a distance from their peers, instructors, culture, and on-campus resources. Also, many of our students are first-generation students and do not inherently understand the jargon so prolific in many course documents and university materials provided to online learners. As efforts to increase student retention, success, and satisfaction grow across the country, “plain language” provides a set of low-cost, low-tech guidelines instructors, advisors, and course developers can use to write and edit materials so that students can understand what they need to do the first time each learner reads a document.
The overarching goals of this workshop are to: 1) increase awareness of plain language for online teaching and learning and 2) increase online instructors’ and designers self-efficacy regarding writing and editing online course materials in plain language.
Session Outcomes: By the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to:
- Identify two benefits to implementing plain language principles in online-delivered documents and written materials.
- Discuss two barriers to implementing plain language principles in online-delivered documents and written materials.
- Rewrite four sample texts according to plain language guidelines.
- Locate three resources for implementing plain language guidelines.
Session Outline: The workshop outline for this session is aligned to the session outcomes.
- Session Introduction
- Identify two benefits to implementing plain language principles in online-delivered documents and written materials. [5 minutes] [Active Engagement Strategy: Graphic Organizer and Red Light/Green Light Response Signals]
- Discuss two barriers to implementing plain language principles in online-delivered documents and written materials. [5 minutes] [Active Engagement Strategy: Graphic Organizer Red Light/Green Light Response Signals]
- Rewrite four sample document excerpts according to plain language guidelines. [20 minutes; five minutes per sample text] [Active Engagement Strategy: Four Corners Rotation Around the Room with one example in each corner. Attendees will be divided into groups according to current institutional role.]
- Locate three resources for implementing plain language guidelines. [5 minutes] [Active Engagement Strategy: Guided Google Search]
- Closing Q&A [5 minutes]
Target Audience: The target audience for this presentation includes higher education advisors, instructors, instructional designers, and administrators interested in implementing a low-cost, low-tech tool to quickly improve student success, student performance, and student satisfaction.