Date: June 19, 2011 To: Levi Martin From: Kelly Knowles Re: Project Assessment Memo

For the Instructional project, we were asked as a group to plan, research, draft, and edit a set of instructions on a group selected topic. Our group chose to create instructions based on uploading a video to YouTube. In my opinion, the hardest part of this project was in fact the selection of the topic. As a group, we went back and forth several times as to what would be feasible for the entire group. After much deliberation and brainstorming ideas, this selection came about when one our group members suggested YouTube as something we were all at least semi-familiar with. Because we were all familiar with YouTube, and had all been on this website to view videos, we were unsure if writing instructions pertaining to YouTube would even be worthwhile as we thought the process might be too self explanatory. However, after a more in depth conversation, we discovered that while we had all viewed videos on this website, not one of us had ever uploaded a video of our own. This was something we were all interested in learning about and thought would be beneficial to others as well, therefore giving us a purpose to create these instructions. We also took into consideration who our intended audience would be, and decided that these instructions would be useful to any individual or group who records videos and would like to share their footage. As there are many technological literacies that can be used to upload videos on YouTube, we chose to direct our instructions towards users of Apple computers.

The topic that we chose affected our writing, in that we used terms that pertain to the YouTube website and other computer related technological terms. Because our intended audience is individuals or groups who have basic knowledge of computers, we assumed that the terminology was suitable and easy to follow. Since instructions are action oriented, there is an interaction between the audience and the text. As far as research goes, since none of us had ever actually uploaded a video to this site, we thought it would be best to go through the process first, and then create our instructions based on the process we used. This process included creating a YouTube account, locating the desired file, and uploading the video. We devised the instructions by writing down what we were doing step by step. We also included side notes in order to clarify certain aspects of the process. Research was also done on other instructional documents that did not pertain to YouTube or uploading videos in order to see examples of effective and ineffective structures, set-ups, and designs. By doing this research we were able to get certain ideas, like making key terms bold for example, that made our instructions more user friendly. When designing our document, I think the most effective aspect was including the screen shots. I think that adding the visual aspect in order to help aid the written instructions is extremely useful to the reader and leaves little to no room for confusion. I think that the collaboration on this project went really well. Because we had previously worked together on another project, we were already familiar with one another and comfortable sharing ideas. Although we had difficulty selecting a topic, it was not a matter of cooperation, but rather a matter of concern that everyone was comfortable with our selection. I think that there is a level of difficulty in any group project in that group members have various schedules outside of school making it hard to all come together to work on the assignment. For the most part we were able

to work things out, and took advantage the time given, when let out of class early. I personally missed out on one group meeting outside of class due to unexpected circumstances. I did however contact my group members and take on tasks that I could do from home in order to contribute. My group members were very understanding and made an effort to communicate with me through both e-mail and phone. I think this particular assignment worked well as a group project, as I feel it would have been a bit overwhelming to do on an individual basis. In conclusion, I feel this Instructional project met all the guidelines given by Mr. Levi Martin. We had a clear purpose, as well as addressed our intended audience. We researched fully and paid careful attention to the set-up, structure, and design of our document, in order to ensure that these instructions offer optimal assistance to the reader.