Last week the Professional Writing and Technical Communication (PWTC) program and the Writing Center collaborated on a workshop for Writing Center tutors about effective slide design using programs such as PowerPoint and Google Slides. The workshop was led by PWTC Graduate Teaching Associate Nicole O’Connell with planning support from PWTC Director Janine Solberg, Writing Center Director Anna Rita Napoleone, and Writing Center Graduate Assistant Directors Jaclyn Ordway and Chandler Steckbeck. PWTC representatives shared their expertise in technology, information design, and accessibility, and the Writing Center tutors and staff shared their expertise in tutoring.
After a short presentation, tutors worked with example slides, discussing strategies to assist the slide authors in meeting their communication goals. Tutors devised questions and suggestions for tutees requesting help with slideshows. Napoleone says the workshop helped tutors think about design and purpose in an engaging way.
This collaboration aimed to aid the Writing Center’s mission of supporting students writing in a wide range of projects, including multimodal ones, from academic papers to digital storytelling.