See on Scoop.it – M-learning, E-Learning, and Technical Communications
Here’s my fourth entry in the series of “A First Timer’s Summit: Packing Heat–Where’s Rick Steves When You Need Him?” I discuss my thoughts about what to pack for my trip to the 2013 STC Summit–just a little more than a month away now!
See on notebook.stc.org
One year ago today, I took steps that would change my life. I started this blog. Its purpose was two-fold. First, I was encouraged by my friend, fellow grad student, and technical communicator, Shay Shaked, to write a tech comm blog. He insisted that I was a good writer and that I had some interesting insights to technology, tech comm, and m-learning, and that I should just start writing some of this stuff down. I thought he was a little crazy, but I had done blogging before, so it seemed like a natural thing to do. At the same time, I was taking a fantastic social media class for my last semester in NJIT’s MSPTC program with Dr. Andrew Klobucar, and one of our assignments was to start a blog that centered on creating community for a particular topic. Since I was already about to start writing a blog upon Shay’s encouragement about tech comm issues, Dr. K had no problem with me continuing on my own with this, as long as what my end product produced, along with building up my social network through Twitter and Facebook (and any other outlets) also showed that I was immersing myself into my community and participating in that community. So, a little tech comm blog, with the goal of just having a niche audience in tech comm, e-learning, and m-learning was born. I never expected many people to notice my blog, or at most, it would be very, very small.
Boy, was I wrong! TechCommGeekMom.com has changed my life! It has opened many doors that I would have never expected, and has become a bigger blog than I ever expected. Sure, it’s still a fairly small blog with a small niche following, but even so, it exploded from my perspective.
As of this writing, since the first words were published on this blog a year ago, TechCommGeekMom has received 8800 hits, with my best day having hit 112 hits. It has been read in 107 countries. 107! I have about 634 registered followers of the blog as well. All this was accomplished through 306 posts (this is number 307) and 996 tags of both original and curated content. I pulled in content that I thought was interesting, and even had the aforementioned Shay do a guest post, but otherwise I just wrote about what I was going on in my mind. Little did I know that others had similar thoughts, or enjoyed my writing. I made sure to promote my little blog through my TechCommGeekMom Twitter account, which I had started shortly before the blog, and on my Facebook and LinkedIn accounts as well. Getting exposure is all about marketing yourself, especially if you’re out of work, and looking to graduate soon and find a tech comm job, as I was at the time.
My efforts definitely started working. The number of Twitter followers I had went from a mere 20 followers to 100 within a few weeks. Now, I have about 600 followers. Again, as compared to the major players in tech comm, that’s not a lot, but to have gone from 20 to 600 in about a year–that’s a pretty big jump! I started seeing people retweeting the links I was posting to my blog posts, and that was exciting! I think one of the biggest thrills for me was when I saw my tweet promoting my blog post about the m-learning Whitepaper that I wrote re-tweeted by one of the leading m-leading experts out there, and he was even one of my references in the paper–WHOA! I was even thrilled that another one of my references in the Whitepaper was actually my editor, too. I mean, who gets that kind of help? I also have enjoyed talking one-on-one with many of these experts through social media, and glad that so many have become not only mentors, but friends as well.
My big “break” was, as regular readers know, due to Adobe. I had written the post about wanting to know more about tech comm software, and of all the software companies that I mentioned, Parth Mukherjee of Adobe’s TCS marketing group actually responded. I really never expected ANYONE to respond to it. It was just a frustrated, ranting post, and yet here was someone from a major software company contacting me. So thanks to Parth, to whom I’ll forever be grateful, he helped me gain greater exposure, offering me a chance to do a Thought Leadership webinar when I was still a graduate student (I delivered it a month after graduation–see the link on the right sidebar), and between him and his team, have provided me with many great writing opportunities. This relationship has grown, which is evident from the advertisement that you see in the top right corner from them. (Do click it!) Through Adobe, I had the chance to go to their pre-conference event at Lavacon this past October, and meet other movers and shakers in the tech comm industry who truly are the ones who are moving this profession forward. It’s very cool to say that I was yarn shopping with about half the presenters at the Adobe’s pre-Lavacon event, and I continue to keep in contact–or at least keep up–with most of the people I met there even now.
This also helped open doors through the STC. I started making connections locally and through those I had met both through Twitter, my blog, and meeting at the Adobe event. Long story, short, this created some notice within STC that my local chapter asked me to do some articles for their newsletter. Also, after attending a webinar by the STC, the moderator recognized my moniker, and asked if I would be interested in writing for them! You’ve been seeing the result of that collaboration most recently with my “First-Timer’s Summit” posts, which will be continuing for a little while.
I also received fantastic mentions by TechWhirl.com and Tech-Tav.com, who have also been great supporters, as well as the professors and fellow MSPTC’ers, for continuing to be a source of support. Couldn’t do it without y’all too.
I just completed my first professional presentation yesterday at the STC Mid-Atlantic Technical Conference in Philadelphia yesterday. I was nervous, but happy that my talk was well-received, and I got a chance to meet some of the people whom I had gotten to know on Twitter and other social media venues in person. I think the biggest thrill–or perhaps it was shock–that I got yesterday was that two people came up to me and asked, “Aren’t you TechCommGeekMom?” They weren’t people whom I had met before online, either. One of the attendees to my session even told me she attended because a co-worker saw that I was presenting, and told her that she should go see “TechCommGeekMom”. For me, that totally blew my mind. I’m still (happily) freaking out over it.
So, from what started out essentially as a student project for grad school has grown into something much, much bigger. I’m working full-time now, so it’s not as easy to keep up the pace of writing as regularly as I used to during the past year, but this is my special project, and I’m not about to stop. I have grown in so many ways since starting this blog, and when I look back on my life a year ago, so much has changed, and changed for the better. I finally did get a job, and part of it was that they liked not only what I had to say in my interview and liked my e-portfolio, but they liked what I had to say in my blog. There was an interview that I got (although I didn’t get the job) in which the hiring manager actually included me for the interviews because he said he was intrigued by what I had to say about mobile learning in my blog.
It appears that when one feels insignificant in the world, just another number in a huge statistic, she can still have a voice, and I found mine in the past year. I’m just incredibly grateful, more than words can actually describe, that people who have read this blog appreciate my voice.
I’m excited to see where the next year is going. TechCommGeekMom is not going away. I feel like I’m just getting started! I love meeting all the wonderful people that I have in the tech comm and e-learning/m-learning fields. I’m not going to stop writing about either topic, and I will continue to try to write and curate articles that I think are important or have any kind of impact on others, or just feel that it needs some sort of commentary. Ironically, second article that I wrote for this blog, written immediately after the first one, was a small rant about how iWork documents for iPad wouldn’t be saved in the iCloud. Ha, how things have changed. The presentation that I did yesterday was done on my iPad
(me, still promoting mobile!), and it has a backup in the iCloud. Oh yeah.
If you would like to help me celebrate, be sure to refer my blog to others, and feel free to look at past posts over the past year, and let me know if you’d like to see me write or comment on anything in particular! I am always open to suggestions, and it helps me bring together the TechCommGeekMom community that I hope I’ve created. Helping this blog grow would be the best present ever.
Surprisingly enough, this post is TechCommGeekMom’s 300th post! As you know, I try to combine my original writing with curated content. I wanted to write something that was positive for my 300th post, and struggled to think of something I wanted to comment on that’s currently on my mind.
Now and then, I also get suggestions of sort to contribute. Someone who often sends me material is Muhammad Saleem at OnlineDegrees.org. Many times, he sends good stuff, but it’s not always what I think is in line with TechCommGeekMom. This time, while it might not seem in line with what I usually write about–it is. This is a very cool infographic about 3D Printing. While there is no question that mobile is here and will be playing a bigger part in education as time goes on, this may be the next step as well. We talk about teaching students new skills for the future–why not learn how to use 3D printing? This might become a big part of the manufacturing world, in time, so I imagine the skills will be sorely needed in due time. One of the things I liked about this infographic was that my undergraduate alma mater, the University of Mary Washington, was listed as one of schools using 3D printers already! (And just so you know, Mary Washington is not known as a tech or engineering school, but it looks like it’s still gearing up for a more technologically advanced future. Did you know that MOOC supporter Jim Groom, who coined the term, “EduPunk,” works and teaches at UMW? True.)
So without further ado, compliments of OnlineDegrees.org and Muhammad, here’s something cool for my 300th post!
Last week, I was in contact with one of my former professors at NJIT‘s MSPTC program. We talked about several things going on, and in the process of the email conversation, she mentioned that she is starting another semester of the PTC 601 (Advanced Professional and Technical Communications) classes, and she asked me a question about mobile, because she wanted to add a new component to an assignment.
I remember doing the assignment well just three years ago. Essentially, the student is given a manual for a fictitious coffeehouse franchise’s espresso machine, and the student has to rewrite the manual into a quick reference guide, preferable something that included visual images that could the learner/user can learn from it or refer to it as needed. Conceptually, it’s an easy enough assignment (or at least it was to me), but creating it with the tools I had at the time proved challenging, even if I did pull it off.
Adding a mobile component to this assignment makes a lot of sense to me. This is a perfect example of what m-learning is, what it looks like, and what it can be! Taking a simple how-to manual and creating a mobile app for it is highly logical, especially in this scenario. I mean, think about it…how often do people whip their smartphones out of their pockets to look up any kind of information, let alone have a how-to app on their phones? So having a special app that could be downloaded and instantly used as a reference guide for that newbie coffee barista would be ideal!
I was happy to hear about this addition to the assignment. The professor knows how enthusiastic I am about promoting mobile solutions, and I was thrilled to hear that she is making an effort to include mobile solutions in the MSPTC curriculum. So, she asked me if I knew any software programs that could convert text into some sort of mobile output. The first thing that came to mind was Adobe’s Technical Communications Suite 4, especially with Framemaker and Robohelp. But, the school doesn’t have a copy of that for students yet (they are working on it), and even with the short trial, there’s a big learning curve for an assignment that would be due fairly quickly.
So, I began to do a little research to help the professor out. There were a few things–a few parameters–that I had to keep in mind as I looked for a tool for her to use. It has to be easy to use for someone who didn’t have too much or negligible programming skills. It has to be free or at the barest minimum of cost. And it had to have an easy ramp-up to have a project done on it in a week or so. I knew, from experience, that people from all walks of life come into this program, with a true mix of web expertise. I remember helping some of my fellow classmates by providing a crash course in HTML, and the quest for the free or cheap web editing software or site where an e-portfolio could be created. So, I understood the parameters well.
The sad thing I discovered was that while there are dozens of places to set up and create free or cheap websites with web editing available that anyone could use to set up a good looking site, the same can’t be said yet for creating mobile sites. There are a few sites that do help a person create a mobile app easily, but it’s not cheap. Or, if it’s cheap, it requires some programming know-how. It was tough. the other thing to keep in mind was whether the mobile app being created was for a “native” app, a “web” app or “hybrid” app. The differences between these is that a native app is saved on the mobile device and can be used offline. The web app is one that is essentially a mini website and needs an internet connection to access the app. A hybrid is…well, you can figure that out. If you’ve ever tried to access an app on your phone, but couldn’t get it to function because you didn’t have wifi or 4G, then that’s a web app. If it only partially worked, but you still needed wifi/4G to connect for part of it, it’s a hybrid. You get the idea. In the end, I gave the professor a few suggestions that I found.
The first was something called Viziapps. I think I had heard of Viziapps because I believe (just off the top of my head) that this was the software being used in an STC class on how to build mobile apps. Viziapps allows individuals to create a mobile app without knowing any or little coding, but they would have to have some idea of information architecture (which is part of the project assignment–understanding what’s important, what’s not, what comes first, content structure, etc.). It’s mostly a visual editor that allows the user to build the apps online, then publish on the web for free, provided the creator has created a web app. If it’s a native or hybrid app, then that has a price. It seems like it might be a viable choice as a tool that would allow for a quicker ramp-up for someone seriously trying to create a mobile app.
Other more creative choices would be using their mobile devices to make something. For example, there is an app called SnapGuide, in which an individual can take photos or video to demonstrate how to do something. Mobile by Conduit might be another possibility, as it’s free, and supposedly has an interface style similar to WordPress.
But then I thought about WordPress, and I realized that might be another option. TechCommGeekMom is a WordPress website, after all, and it can be read on mobile devices. Basic WordPress accounts are free and fairly easy to use. You can create a “blog” or website on WordPress, and then there’s a setting to create a mobile interface. Here’s a little bit of info about it: http://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/mobile-themes/ It seemed to fit the criteria needed for a mobile app creator/editor, in that it’s free, it has a mobile output (as well as a regular web output), and it provides a primer for content management in the experience. I thought that if I was still in the class, I’d create several pages on a single WordPress website for different parts of the Guide–similar to the pages and navigation I have here, and then promote the mobile access to the website. It’s not a perfect system, but for quick ramp-up purposes for a fairly small assignment, it seems like it would fit the bill.
I think my former professor appreciated the help, but we both discussed the dilemma that it posed. Why must someone have a programming degree and some cash in order to create a mobile app–whether it be a native, hybrid or web app? Depending on the app, all three formats have their positive and negative aspects to them. But how does one learn how to use any of these mobile app writer/editor products quickly? There are some great tools out there, I’m not denying that, but for the true beginner or student on a budget who is trying to learn how to create mobile solutions skills as a technical communicator, it’s not that easy. I see a huge business opportunity here (not that I have the time, cash, or enough knowledge to start such a business), but creating a highly user-friendly software program that one’s grandma could create a mobile app for a very low cost would be a fantastic business. It would make even more information accessible to share with others.
It occurred to me later that for the average user, another possibility is another Adobe program that I’ve been using to create and maintain my e-portfolio, called Adobe Muse. It’s a cloud-based app that acts as a very easy UI interface to create websites and mobile apps. I’ve used the website editor, but I haven’t tried the mobile conversion yet there. I believe it’s about $14-15 per month, and you can set up an account at Adobe’s Business Catalyst and create your mobile site that way. It allows those who have next to no programming skills create something that looks great, but it also allows more advanced users some nice shortcuts to create great sites without having to do all the coding–Muse does it for you.
Perhaps, as mobile solutions become more mature like editing software for desktop interface websites, this mobile app creator problem will go away, and there will be more affordable options. In the meantime, we have to wait or muddle through it all…
If you know of any easy-to-ramp-up mobile app editors, please mention it in the comments below! Share, everybody!
Shortly after the obligatory reviews of 2012 come the obligatory predictions about 2013. Sometimes such predictions are on target, and sometimes the predictions are rather ludicrous. One has to admit, though, some of the ludicrous ones do become true, and some can be purely entertaining.
So what are my predictions for 2013? Good question. I don’t really have any idea.
The past year has been a total whirlwind for me. As I mentioned in my last post, so many things happened to me that were unexpected, and there was so much more information learned than was expected that I wouldn’t know where to begin to make such predictions.
It’s also the time of year that one makes resolutions. As we know, most people have a difficult time sticking to New Year’s resolutions. I am no different. If I could keep a resolution, I would look like a supermodel. 😉 Instead, I try to set goals instead of resolutions. Goals are more realistic, because like resolutions, they are usually for some sort of better condition in one’s life, but there aren’t always time limitations as to when this goal will be achieved. I was determined to get my Master’s degree in two years. It took two and a half years, but I still attained my goal. You get the idea.
Most of my goals this year related to doing things around my house that have been waiting for years, such as remodeling my 30 year old kitchen, or putting new carpeting on the stairs. I’m also trying to see if I can try to travel more this year, because that one whirlwind trip to Portland, Oregon for Adobe Day was exciting for me, and it gave me a break from the humdrum of regular life while infusing my brain with new, uselful information. I am hoping that I can get to the STC Summit this year, but I have to see about that–it’s not cheap if you haven’t been working for a while, and you don’t have a company to pay for it. It’s on the U.S. East Coast this year, which makes the travel itself easier and more affordable, but the conference–even the early bird rates–are a lot for a newbie technical communicator. But, I’m hoping with the new job, I’ll be able to afford it. Time will tell. I’ve also set a goal that I want to go back to the UK for a visit. I love that country, and haven’t been in twenty-one years. I found out that I have a cousin that lives in London who is an educational technologist, so catching up with her in person rather than through Facebook should be fun.
But what about professionally? I start my new job as a Web Publisher on January 3rd. I’m excited, nervous and anxious all at the same time. I’m always like this when I start a new job. It’s that, “What did I get myself into?” feeling that just about everyone gets. Don’t get me wrong–I think this is going to be a great opportunity for me, but after being out of full-time work for so long, it’s going to take some adjustment to get back into the swing of things. I’m sure I can do the job and do it well. It’s just the “newness” of it all that gets me. Some find that feeling exciting, but it’s nerve-wracking for me until I truly understand my role. I want to do well, after all. So since my job is supposed to involve a lot with content management, some writing, some web design, and even a little bit of videography and audio manipulation, it should be good. They are all things I can do well, and look forward to doing. I’ve been told that if I do well, there are other potential projects beyond this one I’ve been hired for, so I want to do well. I am excited to be a full-fledged technical communicator now after waiting in the wings for a while.
So, as far as predictions, I can’t make any, but perhaps I can make suggestions–specifically suggest some technical communication goals for consideration for the next year, based on what I’ve learned in the past year.
First, THINK MOBILE. This is foremost. It doesn’t matter whether it’s for e-learning/m-learning or just for simple websites, mobile is essential going forward. I think a lot of companies are in denial of this, thinking that tablets and smartphones are a fad, but they really aren’t. I don’t have specific stats anywhere (and feel free to contribute them in the comments if you have them), but I feel like I’ve read that smartphones outnumber landlines worldwide now, and mobile devices are used much more than desktop-style devices as well. On the road, more people are likely to bring a tablet and/or smartphone than a laptop for basic information that they need to obtain. But, as we all know as technical communicators, mobile devices are not laptop replacements necessarily, so we need to write accordingly for this different devices. A huge portion of 2012 seemed to show me that tools like Adobe’s Technical Communication Suite 4 (see more information in the top right column) and other software tools are keeping up with the times, and providing HTML5 support as well as providing single-source solutions for both desktop and mobile content. As technical communicators, we need to push the agenda that these kinds of tools are essential to more efficient workflows for us, but also are an investment in content management as well.
Related to that, as technical communicators, there’s a real need to push the use of better content. There is always some crossover between marketing communications and technical communications, but in the end, from my own experience, technical communicators have a better edge in managing and writing content. No offense, mar comm writers, but there’s a point–in my view–that marketing communications gets a little too fluffy. It’s too much about the sales and gimmicky verbiage instead of really giving customers the information they need to make informed choices about products and services. Advertising is one thing, but if a customer is going to a website or app to get more information, it’s because they want INFORMATION, not a sales pitch. I’m a consumer, and I’ve also been a consumer advocate in my career, so I’ve been on both sides of this, and I have to side with the consumer on this one. A sales pitch can initially draw a content consumer into your website or app, but once that is done, you want that consumer to be either able to come back, or provide such excellent information that they don’t come back. If there’s good support provided on a site with pertinent information, then there’s customer satisfaction. It’s that simple. And yet, so many companies don’t completely realize this. I don’t know how many companies I’ve seen where the writing is…well…not up to par (to be polite), and I didn’t have the permission to fix it to be more succinct and to the point to help the consumer or audience of the content. It frustrated me to no end. And yet, when I’d try to explain to authority figures that the writing going on wasn’t working well because it was too long winded and needed to be pared down for easier reading while still getting the main points across, I was ignored. There was a Beastie Boys song called, “You’ve Got to Fight For Your Right to Party!”, and it relates to this, as it makes me think that technical communicators need to fight for their right to, well, do their jobs! We have the skills and know-how, and we can help to elevate companies that should be cutting edge to that level. I can think of so many companies that think they are cutting edge and are actually way behind instead, very much in denial. Or, for whatever reason, companies would not invest in the technical communications of the company when that’s where the money would be well spent.
I get very excited about technical communications because while it’s been a field that’s been around for about 100 years (give or take a few years), it still is working to earn the full respect that it needs. With technological advances, technical communicators have huge opportunities to really show what they can do. Right now, with the huge and quick advances made in mobile technology especially in the last few years, this is definitely a time when technical communicators can shine. We have to exert and advocate for ourselves to carve out our place more definitively. We need to adapt to the changing environments to make sure that we are not expendible, but rather necessities. We need to be multi-specialists rather than specialists.
I’m sure you get the idea by now. These concepts are what have been driven into me by the best of the best in the tech comm business in the last year, and I know this is what need to move technical communications forward. When I entered my MSPTC program at NJIT three years ago, one of the motivating factors for entering the program and continuing with the program was not only the subject matter, but predictions that the technical communications field was going to have a big surge. I want to be part of that wave, and be one of the movers and shakers of the movement. I’m hoping that all technical communicators reading this will look at the new year as an opportunity to help shake things up in the world using the skills that we have. Whether we promote m-learning, single-source content management, or just emphasize clearer, better writing, our mission is clear. Make content better for ALL consumers of information. Make this your New Year’s goal– no matter how big or small your contribution is, make your content BETTER.
If goals like that can be achieved, THAT will be what’s ahead for Tech Comm in 2013.
TechCommGeekMom 
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