Tag: mlearning

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The Bear Grylls of Technical Communications?

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

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….

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You make me feel like dancing…

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom


I’m feeling very excited right now.  So much so, I feel like dancing! (Don’t worry– I’ll restrain myself.) For those of you old enough to remember Leo Sayer, every time I hear the phrase, “You make me feel like dancing,” I think of him. Although the dance in my head these days is more like a Nikki Minaj/David Guetta soundtrack, but that’s neither here nor there.

Lots of things going on with TechCommGeekMom, both personally and professionally (since I consider this blog my “professional” blog).

First, I’m excited about my own academics. I just turned in my last assignment for the semester, which means that I am done doing the coursework for my Masters degree in Professional and Technical Communications! It’s been a long two and a half years, but just shy of getting the final grades and graduation, I’m done!  I’m very glad that I took the time and expense to get this degree. I’ve put a lot of hard work into this while at time juggling a stressful full-time job, being a Cub Scout den mother, and being the mother of a special needs kid. So if you don’t think you can do it, think again! It IS possible! I always wanted to get a graduate degree, but never knew what major. It’s been almost exactly 22 years since my undergraduate graduation, so there was plenty of reason to doubt that I could do it. But I’ve done it. I also know that it was worth the wait, because I not only validated many years of technical communications experience in the process, but gained a lot of new skills as well.  And who knew that I would do so well that I’d be accepted into the graduate honor society at my university? If you told me all about where I am now back when I first started this program, I would’ve told you that you were full of beans.  I’m excited to be moving forward from this experience!

Part of moving forward is also reliving some of the past, though! I’ve already made one post, but I will be posting some of my “greatest hits” from my academic blog here. While they are centered more on technical communications and editing at large rather than m-learning, I do think they provide some insight on things that all technical communicators need to keep in mind when looking at “the big picture”, no matter what specialty you work.

I’ve also added content to the ID/TC Links page now. I’ve listed links to commonly used ID and TC software as well as some of my favorite blogs and websites. If you’d like to contribute to the list, please drop me a line at techcommgeekmom@me.com.

Even though I won’t be in grad school anymore (at least for the time being…anyone know of a flexible PhD/EdD program? LOL), it’s not like I won’t be busy. I have lots of projects ahead, and lots of opportunities and chances for more opportunities. I’m looking forward to my webinar in June (register here if you haven’t already!), as well as several other projects I have on tap. If nothing else, being done with school means I can spend more time here on the blog and on Twitter! I genuinely would love any input and participation on this blog. Feel like guest blogging? Let me know! I want to create an m-learning community here where we can “talk shop” in a way that we can kick off our shoes and lounge on the couches while eating snacks-kind of way. I love a good discussion, and I love talking technology, m-learning and technical communications!

More to come, but please enjoy all the new stuff here on the site, and hopefully more great content is coming ahead!

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Thoughts on the state of mobile learning

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

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

So much about the way we teach, learn and communicate is up for grabs. Educators are using new tools and technologies to reach their students … but what do…

See this video on www.youtube.com

This is a REALLY great video to watch– this is why I’m so passionate about m-learning!

Two things I wanted to note:
1) Thanks to @snewco on Twitter for bringing this to my attention, and,
2)This was put out by Abilene Christian University. When I’ve done research on m-learning, they often seem to really have cutting edge stuff going on over there, especially with iPad and mobile learning research on the graduate level. Worth exploring their website.

–techcommgeekmom

 

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Just let me set the record straight…

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

Right now, I’m working very hard to finish up the coursework for my Master’s degree in Technical and Professional Communications. I’ve worked for two and a half years on this, studying part-time, usually taking two classes at a time, while most of the time working full-time while also being a parent to a special needs kid. It’s a lot of work, and it’s incredibly draining, but hopefully the fruits of my labor will pay off soon enough.

Part of one of my last classes is to present my e-portfolio of my professional and academic work for prospective employers.  I fought with my professor about my e-portfolio, because while I knew I needed to take the emphasis off the academic and put it in a more professional light, I really liked how I formatted it–it reflected my personality to a “T.”  She hated it, and made me reformat the whole thing. It was an incredibly laborious process, as I had to take something that took me two years to get it to where I wanted and liked it, and totally scrap it in favor of having something else together in a fraction of the time. I still wanted it to reflect my personality as well.  So, in trying to use some new software (Adobe Muse) to help me build it, I came up with something that I thought was pretty good. Visually, it was slicker looking, and while it didn’t have all the flexibility that I had in the old one, to paraphrase Project Runway’s Tim Gunn, I made it work. Even now, there are some very minor tweaks that need to be made, but I feel like I created a really good e-portfolio that prospective employers will respect and like.

Well, some smarty pants suggested to the professor that we get outside critiques for our e-portfolios before we present them for our upcoming capstone presentations and make them “public”. Sounds like a good idea in theory, but I wasn’t too keen on it. (Mine is already public, as far as I’m concerned.) I submitted mine for review. Overall, the reviews I received back were good, although it was hard to tell from the notes what was going on with some of it. First it criticized my navigation and menu choices, and then the next moment it praised it.

The part that actually stung me the most was that one critique told me to remove my blog page from the site, as the blog was mostly repostings of other articles. Yep, you guessed it, it referred to this blog. (I had also listed my academic blog, which I plan to integrate it with this one at some point.) I was royally TICKED. Yes, I know I am reposting things from other sites in here, but there is some original information in here too. I recently read a review of another very public e-learning blog site, and it was actually PRAISED for sharing articles from other sites as it made that particular blog current and showed that the blogger was sharing current thoughts and information. That’s exactly what I’m trying to do here!

Look, I know that I’m still a beginner at this m-learning and e-learning thing. I’ve blogged for many years on different subjects. I know the blogging game, believe me.

So let me set the record straight:

While this is a blog that reflects my personal interpretations on all things m-learning, e-learning and tech comm, I also am still learning about these subjects. I can’t write about the benefits of using some Lectora trick if I’ve never used Lectora. I can’t talk about e-learning pedagogy if I’ve never taken an instructional design course. I’ve learned things about e-learning “on the streets,” so to speak. I learned through experience, not through theory. I still have SO much more to learn, and I know it. I’ve never been in denial about that. But at the same time, the purpose of this blog is not only to share MY thoughts, but to also open up the forum and share information. I want to learn more from those who read this blog, who have more experience. I want other newbie e-learning and m-learning specialists to come here and share experiences and questions through the comments. Please, voluteer to guest blog on here–I’d love it! I’m trying to build this up as an m-learning/e-learning/tech comm community, so sharing articles that I think are helpful and useful WILL be posted. And as it is, my site stats actually went up once I started sharing these articles, so I don’t think I’m going down the wrong path.

So to the person who gave me that critique, I think you need to see the bigger picture, and read more blogs. The only impression I’ve ever had of the e-learning/m-learning community is that we share. As my husband would put it–we’re sharers. I haven’t seen it in any other field I’ve been in as much as I see it in the e-learning/m-learning world, and I’m happy and glad that this community has taken me into the fold.

So the next time you see an article that is just a repost from my ScoopIt account, please know that I post it because I want to share something that I don’t know well, yet find interesting and informational that I think others would benefit too.

And I’m not taking this blog off of my e-portfolio. I’m proud of what I’ve done here, and what I continue to do here. I still have big plans for this site. I’m working offline on the Educational Resources and Links items listed in the navigation above, and I have ideas for articles I want to write but can’t get to right now. I just stopped to write this…again, just to set the record straight. Keep watching this site…it’s only a month old, and it’s just getting started…

Just bear with me in the next two weeks, as I have to finish up this semester, and term papers from hell are calling me. Please keep me in your thoughts, hoping that I can make it through these next couple of weeks with my sanity intact. 😉

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Countdown to more m-learning on TechCommGeekMom

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

A lot is going on in the TechCommGeekMom world right now. It’s crunch time in many ways…most of all with grad school.  As of this writing, I am 29 days away from graduation.  That sounds like the blink of an eye and an eternity at the same time. I have a lot going on getting all those last term papers, exams, assignments, projects and presentations due before the big day arrives.  At the same time, I’m trying to balance my home life and my work life. My work life is such that I still don’t know completely where it’s going, but I have some trajectories that I’ll let on once they are underway and I feel it’s safe enough to talk about them.

In the meantime, as I think about my work life and where I want to go with my career, I think about this blog and the things I post. A good part of the reason for this blog is to exercise my right to speak about topics that I wish to address–for better or worse-–in the tech comm, e-learning and m-learning worlds. You’ve probably seen personal articles like this one interspersed with postings that I curated from ScoopIt! and other resources. This is because I want to be able to provide not only my own ideas, but also provide information on things that I think are pertinent in m-learning, e-learning and technical communications.

With that, I would like to announce another “countdown” of sorts.  While there isn’t exactly a set time that this will be accomplished, I’m working on adding some additional features to this site. You may have noticed the additional pages in the navigation bar above.  My goal is to make TechCommGeekMom a place where all m-learning, e-learning and technical communications professionals can kick back and talk shop– kind of like kicking back on the couch in your mom’s family room.  I also want to be able to provide some resources for my fellow professionals as well. I want to build a community here, and want you to feel comfortable kicking off your shoes, putting your feet up on the coffee table, have a few snacks, and just chew the fat. (I’ve used the work “kick” a lot in this paragraph, haven’t I?)

I’ve added some new pages, as I mentioned, to try to get the community going, and I truly hope you will participate.  I’ve added a “Discussion Forums” page that actually has a link to my discussion forums page.  I had to put it on another site as the WordPress.com set-up has limitations that don’t allow me to add forums directly onto this site unless I move it to another server, and I’m not doing that right now. Gotta work within one’s means, y’know? Please feel free to join any discussions there, and add any topics–especially about m-learning.

You’ll also see Polls/Surveys. I see this as an informal opportunity to help the m-learning community get a sense of the pulse of things going on. So if you have any suggestions on a poll or survey that you’d like to see asked, let me know.

The last two pages that I’ve created– but still need to populate–are ID/TC Links and ID/TC Resources.  The Links page is meant to be something like a blogroll of sorts, to great  blogs or websites that you should read (after mine, of course). The Resources page is actually going to be an educational resources page, listing as many certificate and degree programs as I can find for instructional design and technical communications program, again especially for those who want to get into e-learning or m-learning. If any readers have any suggestions, again, please let me know so I can include either links or program suggestions on these pages.

I really look forward to the participation of m-learning, e-learning and tech comm professionals– experienced or inexperienced, young and old, Mac or PC, Android or iOS, etc. to join in on the fun.

Keep watching for these new changes! Thanks for your support! 😀