Author: TechCommGeekMom

Danielle M. Villegas is a technical communicator who currently employed at Cox Automotive, Inc., and freelances as her own technical communications consultancy, Dair Communications. She has worked at the International Refugee Committee, MetLife, Novo Nordisk, BASF North America, Merck, and Deloitte, with a background in content strategy, web content management, social media, project management, e-learning, and client services. Danielle is best known in the technical communications world for her blog, TechCommGeekMom.com, which has continued to flourish since it was launched during her graduate studies at NJIT in 2012. She has presented webinars and seminars for Adobe, the Society for Technical Communication (STC), the IEEE ProComm, TCUK (ISTC) and at Drexel University’s eLearning Conference. She has written articles for the STC Intercom, STC Notebook, the Content Rules blog, and The Content Wrangler as well. She was very active in the STC, as a former chapter president for the STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter, serving and chairing on several STC Board committees, and most recently was the STC Board Vice-President before the organization closed.. You can learn more about Danielle on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/daniellemvillegas, on Twitter @techcommgeekmom, or through her blog. All content is the owner's opinions, and does not reflect those of her employers past or present.
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How NASA Is Launching 3D Printing Into Space

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

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

The newest adopter of 3D printing isn’t some hobbyist in a basement — it’s NASA. The agency is already building some of its customized spacecraft and instrument parts using 3D printing.

Danielle M. Villegas‘s insight:

3D printing! In space! It makes a lot of sense, really, as long as they are able to make it work properly. I’ve often thought that having a 3D printer at home would be handy for the same reason. This is proof that 3D printing isn’t going anywhere, and learning the basics is going to be an important skills for kids to learn now for the future. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on www.space.com

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Hypertext | The Content Wrangler

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

Danielle M. Villegas‘s insight:

Ah, this article brought back memories from graduate school where this was a very hot topic. This is worth a good read-through, as I think Mark makes some very valid points on why we need to embrace hypertext more, not less. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on thecontentwrangler.com

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Will the real audience please stand up! | The RoboColum(n)

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

The mantra of every Technical Communicator is, “Know your audience”. If you don’t, how can you know what they need? Yet I constantly find myself having to justify asking this question.

Danielle M. Villegas‘s insight:

Colum McAndrew writes a fantastic article about understanding our audience, which as he states up front, is the primary focus of technical writing. How do we fine tune our understanding of what the audience truly needs? Colum talks about it here. A must-read. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on www.cmcandrew.com

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TechCommGeekMom’s Updated Tech Comm Educational Resources Out Now!

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degreeinhandSome updates have been made to my Tech Comm Educational Resources list. There are two new additions.

First, there is a new Master’s degree in Social Media–and it’s an online course of study–available through the University of Florida. I’ve checked out the program and talked briefly with a rep for the program, and it sounds like a great program.

The second new addition is a new Master’s degree in Technical Communication from Arizona State University, which already has a great Bachelor’s program. This ASU program is so new that the first class will start in Fall 2014!  I’ve looked at the curriculum of this program as well, and it also looks very good.

For more information, look for the Technical Communications Education Resource List on this blog by either clicking on the ID/TC Education Resources tab above, or by clicking here.

If you are interested in Instructional Design educational resources, you can click on the same links for the Instructional Design Education Resource List.

If you know of a related program that I don’t have listed for either category, please let me know, and I’ll be happy to add it to my lists!

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Microsoft Names Satya Nadella as Its New CEO

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

Microsoft has named Satya Nadella as its new CEO, the company announced early Tuesday. Nadella, a longtime Microsoft executive, will replace Steve Ballmer, who announced in Augu…

Danielle M. Villegas‘s insight:

This is important, since Microsoft, despite popular belief right now, is still a major player and driver in the software world. The last few years have not been the best, and this is coming from someone who is herself a fairly "devout" Microsoft person. Windows 8 has been a disaster, the Surface has not been all that great, and the move to the cloud has been less than smooth. The one thing that has worked in Microsoft’s favor is the popularity of the Xbox and Xbox services. It will be interesting to see how Mr. Nadella takes the reigns. One of the things that provides me with some relief if that Bill Gates is stepping down from being Chairman to become Nadella’s "technology advisor" and help him transition to the role. I am hoping that while Mr. Nadella is a Microsoft insider, he’ll bring some new ideas and a fresh approach to the company that is sorely needed. Since PCs still dominate a huge part of the world market, this is a significant event. 

–techcommgeekmom

See on mashable.com