Teaching multiple audiences from a distance

Abstract

Technical communicators commonly distinguish between the audience of academic writing-where students write to an audience of one (the teacher)-and the more complex and multilayered communication that goes on between technical writers and their multiple audiences in professional organizations. Distance education (through the use of multiple technologies such as e-mail, discussion lists, electronic bulletin boards, Internet chat rooms, etc.) can expand students' opportunities to interact with multiple readers-specialized discussion groups, external experts, professional communicators and business professionals, in addition to a diverse range of class participants. Furthermore, distance learning enables students to participate in the class while in the context of their homes or workplaces, allowing them to transcend the classroom context and bringing them into unmediated contact with primary audiences for their writing as well as external audiences.