Month: September 2014

Tech giant Microsoft is to buy Mojang, creators of Minecraft, for $2.5bn, reports the Associated Press.

The phenomenal appeal and success of Minecraft — just check our archives over the last few years!

Source: boingboing.net

This is a huge deal, especially if you know the scope of Minecraft. The thing that will be interesting to me is how Microsoft will keep the game family friendly, and in that same vain, how it will take advantage of how school curriculums are using the game. This is not only a huge gaming opportunity for Microsoft, but also one that can promote its participation in its e-learning/educational departments. Minecraft is not only used to teach kids about creating 3-D worlds, but it teaches teamwork and society building among other skills. I know my son’s school lets the kids play Minecraft quite a bit during their free period, and it’s what has helped my son with his socialization skills. 

 

Let’s see what Microsoft does with that. They’ve certainly acquired a gold mine, that’s for sure! 

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Content Marketing: An Introduction Content marketing is the umbrella term for creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the purpose of attracting and retaining customers. Content Marketing has been a massively growing trend in digital marketing over the past two years. A quick look at Google Trends visually highlights the uptake in the term […

Source: charliesaidthat.com

While content marketing has been around for a while, it’s only in the last year that I’ve noticed it. My good friend, Charlie Southwell, is quite experienced with it, and he shares his simple breakdown of the strategy of how to make it work for your company. There’s some great advice in here. Check it out!

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Even with intervention, many children with autism continue to struggle with communication, but new research suggests that using iPads and other tablets can help

Source: www.disabilityscoop.com

Here’s a feel-good article! I have seen how both tablets, laptops, and even handhelds like smartphones or iPods have been helpful for my own autistic son. I wish some of this technology had come out sooner! It’s so good to see that there’s some actual data to back the concept that these are invaluable tools for autistic kids, and for those with communications disabilities in general. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

Content strategy has become buzzwordified, with many disciplines trying to take custody of its definition. It’s bigger than marketing, or information architecture, or even editorial, but all these fields are important to a successful outcome.

Source: www.helenmosher.com

This is written by my friend, Helen Mosher, whom I’ve known for about 25 years. Helen is the one who introduced me to certain alternative bands, knitting, and blogging. We even shared a knitting blog for a time. Anyway, Helen is in the process of figuring out the next steps in her career, and discovered content strategy in the past year or so. She wrote this article as an analogy based on her writing and publishing background. 

 

Do you agree with her assessment? I can say that I do consider myself a content strategist, and my job title happens to be "Web Publisher".  But I also hold many of the other roles that she describes in this article. This is why I most often refer to myself as a "technical communicator", as it is much more of an umbrella term to cover all those different "hats" I wear. Technical communicators have to encompass all these roles. Some might concentrate on one aspect more than others, but I know I have to deal will ALL those aspects on a daily basis. So content strategy is a lot more that it looks, in my view, and it is an all-encompassing role. It’s never boring, that’s for sure. 

 

Add your comments below, and let me know what you think.  Also, contact Helen if you are interested in hiring her. I know she’s looking for additional work right now. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Sitting in a kitchen stocked with free food, a handful of 20-something Google summer interns weigh their favorite perks, but where to begin? With bikes, buses, massages, swimming pools, dance classes, nap pods, part…

Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

This article actually infuriated me. Whatever happened to internships that you only earned college credit if you passed? I did one of those for a TV station during my senior year of college. I had to pay for the college credits, pay for my own transporation (50 miles away from my school), and pay for my own meals.  I received no monetary compensation, and it was supposed to help me get a foot into the media industry. We all know how that ended up. 

I can see why companies would want to provide some perks in order to retain these interns as future employees. I get that–it’s a marketing thing, in that respect. But these kids have better perks–and in some cases, compensation–than I’ve had, and I’ve GOT experience, unlike them. How is that fair? Whatever happened to the "poor college student" and "paying your dues" towards your career? 

I suppose that as a person who still feels like she is "paying (her) dues" at the age of 46, despite having a career and a graduate degree in hand, this seems grossly unfair. Yes, yes, I know the world isn’t fair. But really–what does a 20-22 year old need with a $60-80K salary, free food, and all those other perks? Why can’t I get a piece of that?

Internships are supposed for the purpose of learning, not getting paid high wages and all the "good things".  Employees have earned a spot to have those perks, but interns haven’t. 

I don’t know…reading this just made me feel ill. 😦

–techcommgeekmom

See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications