digital literacy – Page 42

I’ve hit the “Big Time” in Tech Comm!: I’m an Adobe Webinar Presenter now

Posted on June 11, 2012September 17, 2015 by TechCommGeekMom

It’s been rather exciting in the last week or so for me. Much like being in Times Square where there are so many lights and sights and sounds that one can’t possible keep up with it all in one outing.

Last week was a big week for me. My much-publicized webinar that was hosted by Adobe was presented last week. It went by so fast that it almost feels like a dream! But now I have evidence that it really happened, as Adobe just published the recording of the webinar presentation on its Technical Communications Suite -OnDemand Seminar website today. I’d been waiting all this time to comment about it, but wanted to have the link first.

You can find my webinar–now an Adobe OnDemand seminar here:

Transition from Content Consumer to Content Creator: Dual Viewpoints.

(There is a sign in at the Adobe site, but it’s free.)

I need to thank Maxwell Hoffman for his guidance in the process. He gave me a lot of fantastic advice and things to think about, as well as some great editing of the drafts for the slideshow that accompanied the talk. If you ever have the chance to work with him, you will definitely enjoy yourself and learn from a master.

I also need to thank Adobe and especially Parth Mukharjee for the opportunity of a lifetime to do this. It was Parth who read my posting here and contacted me through Twitter to make it all happen. Thank you, Parth! Another Adobe “shout out” to Saibal Bhattacharjee as well for his assistance in this process. I have to say, all I did was use my voice, and to know that people at Adobe were listening, well, that feels rather great, and again, I appreciate this fantastic opportunity. I was already an Adobe fan, but this experience made my loyalty to the brand even deeper. I would readily welcome the opportunity to do another webinar or any other opportunities that Adobe might bring my way. 🙂

I also can’t forget to thank Mr. Mobile himself, RJ Jacquez, blogger of The m-Learning Revolution blog. In the past few months, this former Adobe evangelist has become my friend and a mentor, and I felt that before I took on this endeavor, I needed his blessing. (I didn’t really need his blessing, but it felt right to talk to him about it first.) He definitely supported me and encouraged me to take advantage of this webinar opportunity, and I’m glad he did. So, thanks RJ. You da man. 😉

And then there are the other friends from all walks of my tech comm life that attended–many thanks for your support as well!

I’m proud of the work I did for this presentation, and I hope that anyone who takes the time to listen and watch it will get something helpful out of it, and learn something. I will never claim to be an expert on anything, but as this entire experience has taught me, it is worth it to try new things out by doing and not be afraid to use your own voice now and then to express yourself. You never know what good things might happen. 😀

(Update 9/17/2015 – The links to the webinar have been updated as Adobe has archived the presentation’s location on their website.)

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TechComm Event of the Year! Please attend my first Webinar presentation!

Posted on June 4, 2012September 17, 2015 by TechCommGeekMom

OK, I don’t know that it’s THE techcomm event of the year, but it is to me!

Please come attend my first webinar presentation, “Transition from Content Consumer to Content Creator: Dual Viewpoints,” graciously hosted by Adobe Systems.

It’s tomorrow, 5 June 2012, from 1:00 PM- 2:00 PM US/Eastern / 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM US/Pacific.

Here’s the description for the webinar:

The technical communications world is changing quickly with technological advances. It can be a difficult transition from content consumer to becoming a content creator. If you are new to the technical communications field and trying to find some direction, how do you make that transition and learn the tools of the trade? Join technical communicator Danielle Villegas, who blogs and tweets as TechCommGeekMom, as she discusses the challenges of being a content manager, pursuing a professional course in Technical Communication, and moving ahead in a technical communications career. Danielle will concentrate on content for mobile devices while sharing her first hand experiences learning about the most desired skills. She will be discussing how visual and web design, technical writing and editing, and content management skills come together to create good technical content.

I am very excited to be doing this, and truly hope that you will attend and hear what I have to say. I’ve been working hard to create a presentation that will be . It’s merely based on my own experiences, and I hope it opens up some great discussions in the tech comm world. Registration is free, too!

You can sign up by clicking on the link above for the title of the webinar.

See you there!

(Updated 9/17/2015 – The webinar link has now been archived, so the link in the article to the webinar has been updated.)

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We are living in a Material World, but I’m a Digital Literate Girl.

Posted on April 12, 2012 by TechCommGeekMom

Tonight, I found out something that totally angered me. A year ago, I had applied for a scholarship, and moved heaven and earth between full-time work, taking two grad school courses and juggling motherhood of an autistic child to get this application in. I turned it in before the deadline, and according to what I could see on the application site– which was done through Moodle–(why Moodle? I have no idea.) I saw that a total of six people had applied, and two had sent the application in after deadline. So, if you took the other four people as the eligible ones (myself being one), I had a 1 in 4 chance of getting this scholarship. Pretty good odds, I would think, right? Well, I heard nothing. A year has passed, and having heard nothing at all–not even a “Sorry, Charlie” letter or note or even an announcement saying who actually won the award. Then today, I saw an email for this year’s invitation to apply to the same scholarship. I sent a note to the person who sent the email, saying that I never heard back, and I can’t apply now since I’m about to graduate, so it’s too late, but what happened? She wrote back and said she had no record of it. I was able to pull up the record on Moodle, and sent her the screenshots that most definitely said that I had sent in all the information needed. Her only reply was, in so many words, “Oh, sorry. It was my first year using Moodle, and I didn’t see it there.”

As you can imagine, I’m livid. It would’ve been one thing if I genuinely lost out to one of the other three applicants, but I didn’t even have a chance because somebody was not digitally literate in the tool they were supposed to use to do their job. For all I know, I could’ve won that scholarship. I could’ve certainly used the money to help pay for part of my tuition, and the clout of having that scholarship award on my resume would’ve looked great. But no, because of someone else’s ineptitude, I didn’t even have a shot at it. If you understood the rage I have about this, I’m almost speechless (which is saying a lot coming from my big mouth).

It got me thinking about digital literacy. I looked for a definition, and the following is what was listed on Wikipedia:

Digital literacy is the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and analyze information using digital technology. It involves a working knowledge of current high-technology, and an understanding of how it can be used. Further, digital literacy involves a consciousness of the technological forces that affect culture and human behavior. ^[1] Digitally literate people can communicate and work more efficiently, especially with those who possess the same knowledge and skills.

So, I feel I used the term of “digital illiterate” for this person running the scholarship correctly. She works for a place that I happen to know is technologically “hooked up”, and still… this. And I had to think about what it means to be digitally literate as well, and how it relates to my quest to be involved in m-learning.

My thinking, for better or worse, is that hopefully the use of m-learning will make people more digitally literate. I’m always amazed at how many people in the working world–especially those who work in networked and digitized offices–are not digitally literate. It’s one thing not to know how to use a particular program that’s a niche thing with that company or function, but really– not to know how to use Word? Or basics of Excel? Or how to send an email? REALLY? Maybe it’s because I’ve been into computers in one way or another for the past 30 years (I really did start when I was a kid not much older than my son!), that I always knew that I had to keep up with technology as best as I could, or else I knew I’d be left behind. In fact, during my stay-at-home-mom years, I did fall behind a little bit, and I’m still catching up professionally due to that.

With the proliferation of mobile devices, how can anyone NOT at least start to become more digitally literate? Technology is everywhere, and just using a smartphone to gain information is a form of being digitally literate. If a digital device helps you do your job better and more efficiently, and you know how to use that tool, then you are digitally literate. If you can’t be bothered to learn the technology given to you to make your job and responsibilities work correctly, then you are a digital illiterate. If you don’t know how to use your digital tools, then you need to either learn through some means, whether m-learning, e-learning, a book or even just asking another person. Is that so much to ask? No, I don’t think so. The world is moving too fast to not keep up with these things.

So, while there are those who might be more focused on material things, like the Material Girl, I prefer to be the digital literate girl. Always doing my best to keep up with the digital tools I need to use, always trying to add new ones to my repertoire, and trying to keep up with technology so I can try to do whatever it is I’m doing better! We need less Material Girls and more Digital Literate Girls, if you ask me.