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President Obama issues a directive Urging Focus on the growing Mobile Revolution | The m-Learning Revolution Blog

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

Historically, the government has always fallen behind the private sector in embracing technology. This may be about to change with mobile. This morning I came across this article on The …

 

When it comes to mobile, RJ is the man and knows his stuff. He’s right to point out that this is a big deal. Mobile is moving pretty fast, and it can have a big impact on the American–dare I say, global?– economy. By keeping up with technology, this can help bring the US back to the forefront. No matter your political affiliation, having President Obama back mobile technology is a BIG deal.

–techcommgeekmom

See on rjacquez.com

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The next generation of the Web: HTML5 and CSS3 – A Blast from the Past blog post

@MicrosoftThis is another installment of my “Blast from the Past” entries originally posted in my academic blog.  This one comes to us from May 8th, 2010– almost exactly two years ago! It’s interesting to read that some of these issues are still relevant today– what have you done to learn or use HTML 5 and CSS3? I admit, I while I still do have some understanding, I think I need more. Even Adobe has gotten up to speed with their release of their Edge product, so it proves that things are moving fast!

–techcommgeekmom

One of the things that I think is critical to technical communication is the emphasis on the technical. After all, talking one-on-one in person is communication, and there’s been communication since cave people bonked each other on the head with clubs.  Technology has always been emerging over the centuries. Just last night, during my son’s Cub Scout meeting, the denner was giving a presentation about electricity, and mentioned the invention of the telegraph. It occurred to me, and I brought it to the attention of the boys, that the telegraph was probably the first form of e-mail, if you think about it.

So, fast forward to today. I came across this article, which talks about the future of web-based coding languages:

Geek 101: HTML5, CSS3, and You

It basically talks about the history of HTML and CSS, and the next generation of these web development codes.  I already have a general handle on these, since I’ve not only had to work with these codes professionally, but also had to revive my skills and learn CSS in order to create my e-Portfolio for PTC 601.  So, does this mean I need to learn a new set of codes? What kind of adjustments need to be made for HTML5 and CSS3? Time will tell if and how I will learn more about these codes. Hopefully I will so I can stay on the cutting edge of things.

How does this relate to technical communication? Well, someone will have to write about it and tell how to use it. Additionally, part of being a technical communicator is not only creating the communication itself, but actually knowing how to put it out in the world, be it by webpage, fax or printed document.  HTML5 and CSS3 are part of that, so it’ll be important to start to learn about these new technologies. If it means that being able to post animations and video without specialized players (like Flash) into any browser that supports HTML5 and CSS3, then that’s actually a GOOD thing. Apple has been embracing it since they don’t want to use Flash or other players, for example. This will open up a larger arena for the world, by removing some limitations that make things more readily accessible.

So, you need to allow this geek girl here her excitement into technology geekery. This is part that makes technical communication fun, at least for me.

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Mobile Learning Analyst RJ Jacquez to guest host #TalkTech chat on mLearning, HTML5, and more.

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

We are pleased to announce that our friend and colleague RJ Jacquez (@rjacquez) will be guest hosting our weekly #TalkTech chat this Thursday, May 17th at 3 pm EST.

See on www.bottomlineperformance.com

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Italian university switches to English

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

One of Italy’s top ranking universities is switching to teaching in English for most of its degree courses.

 

You might be questioning why I think this is an important article. How does this impact e-learning, m-learning and technical communication? It impacts all of these GREATLY.

First of all, I need to state that I strongly believe there is no such thing as “International English”. Which version of English is going to be used at this university? Most likely it will be British English, but it could also be American English, since the British and American versions are usually the most predominant versions over Indian English, South African English, Canadian English, and Australian English, as well as the many dialects within those versions as well. What does this move on the part of this Italian university say? The university rector argues that English has become the international language of business and the sciences. Why is that? when I was growing up (and again, I’m not THAT old), it was that both English and French were the languages of business, then Japanese and Spanish were added later. I also always heard that German was the language for the sciences–at least for engineering. What has changed in the world that English is taking over like this? My own theory is that much of the Internet is written in English, and most of the world’s communications are conducted in English, so the rector’s reasoning makes sense. Does the mean the end of Latin and Italian at this university? Perhaps. Does that mean the English language is taking over the world? Perhaps. Only time will tell. There are other languages that could also start taking stronger precedence in the world, such as Spanish, Chinese and Hindi as well.

What does this mean for technical communicators and those specialists in e-learning and m-learning? Greater emphasis will be needed in writing precisely for the audience at large. While there is no such thing as “International English”, technical writers and instructional designers will need to make greater efforts to use more standardized language that previously done before.

This is really an excellent article, and I encourage my readers to read it in its entirety.
–techcommgeekmom

See on www.bbc.co.uk

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Learnlets » Mobile Changes Everything?

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

Clark Quinn is one of the foremost authorities on m-learning, having written two books on the subject, no less! It’s always good to read what he has to say about the subject…

Thanks to @snewco (on Twitter) for the lead on this.

–techcommgeekmom

See on blog.learnlets.com