In Technology Education, you will need to write to succeed.  The purpose of this writing is to demonstrate your understanding of the topics you are learning.  You will be asked to explain how you did some task, or you may be asked to explain how or why something works. Your writing will frequently be in the form of a web site. Your writing will be published on the department web site, Teched.  Some examples of student work may be posted on the Duxbury High School web site.

When you write for projects in this department, you should follow some basic rules:

Write it yourself.
Almost anybody can master cut and paste.  More important is the ability to use your own words to address the specific question you have been asked to answer.  Most of the questions you will be asked will be impossible to answer adequately by using something written by somebody else.

Keep it simple.
Do not use complex sentence structure.  Use words that you actually understand.  Each paragraph should contain only one main idea.  By using brief, but clear sentences and paragraphs, you can reduce reader confusion.

Answer the question.
You will be asked a question or series of questions about a topic.  Make sure that you are answering the question in your writing.  You are not being asked to write for the sake of writing.  You are being asked to answer in a way that shows your understanding.

Make sure that it is accurate.
Write complete sentences.  The facts that you write about should be correct.  You should understand what you have written and be able to explain them in greater detail if asked.  Use the correct word, especially with homonyms.

Use standard written English.
Correct spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and word choice are basic requirements.  Use the spell check.  Do not write like the words would come out of the mouth of somebody in a music video or street corner.

Include links in the text to other documents that help explain what you have written.
Your reader will come across words that need greater clarification.  Determine which of these words are most likely to need definition.  Make links of these words, so that the reader can click on them and be directed to another page that tells more about the topic.

Give credit to the author or source of words that you did not write.
When you write, you may find that some other person or web page has a better explanation of a topic than you do.  If you want to include this resource, you should make a link to the original source.  This link should be on the page that the referenced material is on, and it should be included in a list of resources used to help you write. When you learn to write in this fashion, you will find that you can express your thoughts clearly so that they can be understood by the reader.  You will also learn more about the topic as you write, and will create a good record of how to find out more information about the topic.