My latest post on the STC Notebook is up! The article is a reflection about a recent encounter I had at the STC Summit about a month ago. I’d like to hear your opinion about the question I ask at the end!
Check it out here:
Villegas Views: Digital Content is Not the Only Content Out There
As many readers know, the “geek mom” side of me comes out when I see new technology. One of the new technologies that has been attracting my attention is 3D printing. So, yes, this is another article about 3D printing. In this case, it’s about how 3D printing is becoming a more embedded part of the British school curriculums, which is something I had heard about a year ago. Britain is making a concerted effort to bring more computing and other STEM technologies into the classroom for children as young as kindergarten, as they feel that technology training starting at a younger age will help prepare students for a world in which technology will play a greater part in the workplace as they become adults. I agree with this. I’m still amazed to see teenagers who have no to little basic software skills, like barely know the basics of Microsoft Office, let alone having a basic understanding of how computers and the internet works. In the United States, very few school systems are adopting any kind of similar curriculums simply because a)it’s too expensive, or b) the teachers don’t have the training to teach the information, or both.
This article is mostly about a young girl who is taking advantage of the 3D printing available to her through her school, and she is taking off with big designs and ideas. This is the kind of inspiration that we need to encourage in more students! She is definitely the future, and I’m hoping there will be more like her out there, given the opportunity.
How 3D printing is changing the shape of lessons
Based on the new information gathered in the curated post, How to Choose the Right Online Instructional Design Certificate Program, the Instructional Design Education resources information has been updated. You can find it by clicking on the ID/TC Education tab at the top of the TechCommGeekMom blog, or by clicking here.
Good luck!
If you know of any other tech comm or instructional design/e-learning programs that should be added to my list, let me know!
Today was a bit of a new achievement for me.
I broke out of the tech comm mold a little bit, and actually did an e-learning, or more specifically, an m-learning presentation today at the e-Learning Conference 3.0 at Drexel University in Philadelphia today. I was totally out of my comfort zone, because while I love to talk about and share what I know about m-learning, I’m not an m-learning professional, meaning this is not something I do everyday like the rest of the attendees. I also had never been in front of such a large group (there were 50+ people in the room! New record for me!), and among those who DO use e-Learning everyday. I was grateful that I had people come up to me and tell me they liked my presentation. I was glad that at the end of my presentation, I was able to get a conversation going in the room about m-learning practices.
Not bad for a content strategist, eh? 😉
Due to popular demand (okay, some attendees asked for it), here are the slides that I used. If they don’t make sense for some reason, feel free to ask questions in the comments, or email me directly.
Enjoy!
Some 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!
TechCommGeekMom 
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