See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications
This is a great course/online app/e-book on an important topic. Can’t do ID without some sort of project organization, for sure! Thanks to @ywsanchez for bringing this to my attention.
–techcommgeekmom
See on idpm.us
See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications
No one reads e-learning courses. The sad truth is we engage in what amounts to writing exercises. What can be done to create effective e-learning?
This is a great article…makes one think about how instructional writing should be done. This is especially true when thinking in context of writing for m-learning. Great stuff to think about. (Thanks, Mayra Aixa Villar for directing me to this!)
–techcommgeekmom
See on info.alleninteractions.com
Today was a big milestone day in my life. Today, twenty-two years after I received my Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Mary Washington (Mary Washington College back then), I received my Masters of Science in Professional and Technical Communication from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Let me tell you, if you had talked to me at the time of my Bachelors degree and told me that a) I’d be getting a Masters degree and b) it would be in a program that involved computer related stuff and technical writing, I would have thought you were insane.
I put two and a half years of my life into this degree. There was blood, sweat and tears that were involved now and then (literally, in some cases!). My husband was a weekend widower for most of that time, and my son understood that Mom had to do her homework too, and it was way more than he had because she was anywhere from in the 17th-20th grades (compared to him being in 5th grade).
I started this program because I was unemployed. I was being laid off from a job that had certain aspects I liked, namely editing and the use of instructional design. I also had some e-learning and some instructional design from a prior job that I liked, so I decided to “work the system” in seeing if I could find some sort of coursework that would help to update my skills as job retraining through the state’s re-employment programs. By a miracle, there was an ad on Facebook–of all places– for NJIT’s MSPTC program and the grad certificates in technical communications essentials. When I looked at the curriculum, it was exactly what I was looking for, and so many of the electives that I wanted to take! I was able to complete all the paperwork and convince the state to pay for my tech comm certificate. I started with that, because I figured that it was a shorter commitment, I would still get some significant training out of it, and if I didn’t like it, I wasn’t stuck in it for the long haul. And if I did like it, I could always transfer the credits straight into the Masters program.
Well, you guessed it– I ended up loving it. The state ended up paying for my first three courses until I got a job that allowed me to pay for the rest of my education myself, which was an incredibly expensive investment. I took as broad a range of subjects as I could, but found myself always gravitating towards e-learning and m-learning just the same. I oriented many papers to cover e-learning and m-learning topics over time, yet kept my options open so that I had more opportunities to not only expand my own knowledge base, but provide opportunities in other areas I liked in case the e-learning direction didn’t work out the way I wanted.
And now…I have a Masters degree. I think there was a point in my career that I knew I wanted a Masters degree, and that perhaps a Masters degree would help with my career– but doing what? The problem was that the kind of degree I wanted to do wasn’t around the way it is now when I first got my undergraduate degree. Creating websites was strictly for computer developers and programmers, and I wasn’t that. I wasn’t an English major who specialized in creative writing or journalistic writing either. Not that there’s anything wrong with those majors–not at all, but they weren’t me, or at least not quite me. Discovering the world of technical communication when I did and finding an educational resource when I did was purely fortuitous timing, if nothing else, but I’m glad it’s become part of my life.
I seem to recall that the advisor for the program said something about me in reference to this program to the effect of it being something where I learned about my own voice. I think this is definitely true. Growing up, and even through my undergrad years, I thought being a good writer had to do with being a “flowery” writer, someone who always included all these incredible details in their works. I couldn’t do that. Part of the reason that a History degree appealed to me was that I just had to collect and re-churn out facts in a cohesive manner. Even with that, I didn’t understand that I could do that well until my senior year of college, when my favorite professor motivated me to write some of my best work of my college career. Some of the papers I did for him that I thought were horrible were ones that he thought were my best. When I re-read them years later, I realized what he was saying– they were good. Maybe I really was someone who could write decently.
I think the understanding that I could write well was developed more as I winged my way through my professional life, but it really didn’t become clear until I joined this program. I did find my voice, and I could express my opinion, and…people listened. People understood my message. And people thought I explained myself well, and liked the work that I did. I sometimes am still surprised that I was able to pull this off. But yes, I found my voice, and I found what makes me excited in the working world, and that’s technical communication with an emphasis on e-learning and m-learning the most. (But get me started on editing “International English“, UX or content strategy as well, and my engines get revved up as well!)
Today is a big day. Today is a day I realized that I can make a big contribution to global society just being myself and truly doing what I love. I know that even with a Masters degree in my hand, I still have SO much more to learn to realize my full potential in the e-learning and m-learning world, and I’m doing my best to take what I’ve learned from my MSPTC program and move forward. And I don’t mean just academically, but what I’ve learned about myself from the experience as well.
In my last post, I talked about how important it is right now in the technical communications world to keep up with skills and teach yourself new things. The world is moving SO fast that it’s hard to keep up, even with a brand-spanking new graduate degree in hand! Even as I write this, while it might seem like I’m done, I’m far from done. I’m trying to take some online tutorials in Adobe Tech Comm Suite 3.5 software, and I’m throwing myself into an instructional design project. I need to get my feet wet in the real world, and I have to keep it moving or else I’ll miss out or fall behind quickly. Even if your goal is not getting a Masters degree, I highly encourage you to challenge yourself with something new. The ID/TC Education Resources link above is a list of programs that I curated to help others to find additional education to help further their careers as well. I found that NJIT’s MSPTC program fit my needs at the time I started, but I’ve since learned of some other great programs that are listed on that page. You might learn some new skills, but you might also learn more about yourself in the process.
Other than teaching myself more software, are there plans to continue with, say, a doctoral degree? While I would love to be known as “Dr. Villegas,” I think I need some time and space to still fully realize this MSPTC degree. It hasn’t sunk in that I have it. It still seems a little surreal. I also need time to figure out, if I do go on with further education, if it only is a matter of getting another graduate certificate, or if a PhD or EdD is what I want to do. And then…in what, and how? Perhaps, like 22 years ago, the program I want or need isn’t out there yet, so biding my time will help.
Tomorrow is a new day, and a step towards a new future as a master of technical communication. It’ll be interesting to see what happens next!
See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications
I’m personally working on ensuring that I’m the right person to do the e-learning or m-learning job–are you?
Another great article by Tom Kuhlmann.
–techcommgeekmom
See on www.articulate.com
My techcomm, m-learning, and e-learning friends–I need to advise you of a painful truth about the world. It’s rough out there. The world economy has been such a mess for the last five years or so, and it’s been slow to recover from the bad times. At least from my own experiences, I can say that just in the last three and a half years alone, I was laid off, unemployed, working, then laid off again to now where I’m semi-working (working part-time, just finished school) and have a few projects, but nothing that’s long term as of yet. In other words, it’s a jungle out there, and I know from first hand experience that technical communicators need to be survivalists out there, like Bear Grylls or Les Stroud (SurvivalMan). Just like those on that show, “Survivor,” we need to outwit, outplay and outlast others to stay in the game. One has to start thinking out of the box as to how to continue in the world as a technical communicator.
Within the last two days, I encountered two things that addressed this very notion. The first was an article by Miriam Lottner, who writes the Documentation Management and Technical Writing Blog for Tech-Tav Documentation, Ltd. in Israel. She wrote an article called, “Getting to the top and staying there” that addressed the issue of technical communicators looking for jobs where she lives. As someone who contracts technical writers herself, she addressed what she looks for and what she feels are skills that are needed to get ahead today in the technical communications field. She recounted a story of being able to place a person for a very specific project because they had skills that others did not have. The main point of her article was that to stay ahead, one needs to push away the obsolete skills that nobody wants to know anymore, and brush up on or learn new skills, because technology is always changing. She even mentions that she is in the process of writing a book about HTML5 to help other learn and get ahead. (I’m looking forward to getting a copy! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Miriam on Skype, and she’s a sharp cookie who loves techcomm, so I’m sure the book is going to be fabulous!)
Fast forward a day, where I was at the home of a fellow member of the Society of Technical Communications (STC-Philly), along with some other local NJ members, and we sat together to listen to a virtually shared meeting presented by the STC-NYC chapter. The NYC chapter was having speakers Ross Squire and Donna Timpone present a talk called, “Technical Communications: Your Annual Career Tune-Up.” It was an interesting presentation, because while there were great tips to remind those who were participating about making networking connections, it was emphasized that with technology moving so quickly these days, it really benefitted technical communicators to get out and learn new skills. Going back to school or taking an online course on something new was encouraged to not only boost one’s skills and provide someone with additional experience that could be brought into a new job, but the use of social media to make networking connections was also important. Being passive doesn’t work anymore if you are looking for employment of any kind, whether it’s to move up or just find something at all. Staying on top of the game is what is key these days. A key point to Ross’ and Donna’s talk was that e-learning and m-learning, both in acquiring information and putting out information was going to be vital. In other words, being on both the receiving and sending sides and understanding those roles will be crucial. Understanding and participating in social learning is highly important. In other words, if you want to play the game, you have to start gaining the survival skills.
In reading Miriam’s article, and listening to Ross and Donna, I felt a certain satisfaction knowing that in many respects, I’m on the right track with getting my own career started. Less than 3 years ago when I got laid off the first time, I started taking matters into my own hands by starting with my online courses for a graduate certificate in technical communications essentials. I’m glad I kept up with my classes, because now I’ve been laid off again for a while, but I’m about to graduate with my Masters degree in technical communication, and after looking at trends and issues in techcomm, e-learning, and m-learning, I feel like I’m ready to get out there. It may be a little rough and bumpy sometimes, and no doubt I’ll be on my own to struggle to survive, but I believe I have what it takes, and I will be a tech comm survivor. Heck, while I’ve finished my classes and have yet to still get my Masters degree in my hands in a few days, I’ve already started boosting my skills set with learning some new software that will be coming in handy as I move forward with my career in the near future. Learning never ends. If I hadn’t taken some courses or taught myself other IT skills years ago, I wouldn’t even be where I am now.
(Addendum: Look above at the ID/TC Educational Resources if you are looking for some ideas of further e-learning, m-learning or tech comm learning!)
The Boy Scouts have among their important mottos the saying, “Be prepared.” This is so vital these days.
So, do you have what it takes to be the Bear Grylls of technical communications? If not, you need to do some boot camp training soon….
You must be logged in to post a comment.