Supplemental Resources for Designing E-Learning: How to Prepare a Cover Letter for a Technical Review

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How to Prepare a Cover Letter for a Technical Review

Send a cover letter with the draft to coach reviewers In their work. Issues you might address in the cover letter include:

Purpose of the draft. Explain where in the development process you are, and how their feedback helps.
What to look for. Even though course developers typically expect reviewers to check the technical accuracy of information, many reviewers assume their job is to chase after commas unless you specifically direct attention elsewhere.
When to return comments. Tell reviewers when you need to receive comments. (If you don’t specify a date, that’s about when you can expect to receive them.)
How to write comments. Course developers need comments that are as specific as possible and that indicate both what is incorrect and the possible wording of a correction.
How to submit comments. Some course developers prefer that reviewers mark comments directly on a hardcopy draft, even if the draft is sent electronically. (That's what I prefer.) Others prefer that reviewers provide a separate memo with comments. If you do not specify, reviewers will provide comments in a way that is most convenient to them.

If possible, personalize the letter. People tend to ignore form letters. Figure 10W-1 provides a sample of a review letter.

(Note that the material may also be incorporated into an e-mail message)

M E M O R A N D U M

To	Terry Thomson
From	Sheila Hans
Date	October 28, 2002
Subject	Review of First Draft of AutoPay Tutorial

As promised, Terry, here is the first draft of the AutoPay Tutorial for your review. Your reviewing the draft for completeness and technical accuracy helps us develop the highest quality information for our customers.

Can you return your comments to me by November 18?

This tutorial is intended for end users of our new AutoPay service. The first draft is intended to make sure that we have covered the right content to get end users up and running with this product, and that the content is clearly presented. Because we are trying to shield the complexity of the product from new users, we are only providing one way to perform each task, even though the system offers several. We will cover those in other communication products.

Because you are the lead programmer on the project, I am especially looking for your feedback on the following issues:

Accuracy of screens and commands
Accuracy of procedures
Completeness of the draft

Please mark any comments directly on the review draft. The more specific your comments, the better I can understand them. Indicate what should be changed and suggest, if possible, how the passage should be reworded or text that should be added or deleted.

Also, as we previously discussed, would you please attend the following meeting to discuss review comments:

Tuesday, November 19
1:00 - 2:30 pm
Large Conference Room

Thank you for your time. I look forward to receiving your feedback on the draft.

Sheila Hans

Figure 10W-1: Sample Cover Letter for a Review Draft