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Volume 1 | Number 3 | November 2004 The Printer-Friendly VersionFall into Online Learning!Contents
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| Ellen Ashdown Elizabeth Avery Lori Barclay Anne Block Nancy Cisneros Charles Coursey Stephanie Costa Philippe Coudert Gail DiPetra Deborah Doyle Alane Fitzgerald Juston Eivers Jim Frost William Gill Laura Green William Griswold Steven Heitman Michael Heberger Joan Holmquist John Howe Jennifer Hua Carol Husa Daniel Iwasaki Lee Kolm Ellen Kurr John Lancaster Robert Lane |
Debora Larry-Kearney John Lee Becky Lash Rosie Maple Yvonne McCleary Claire Moller Petrina Moore Kathryn Morse Cheri Mullins Laura Poeppelman Tara Reynolds Michael Richards Lindsey Robbins Veronica Romero Amber Rost Andrea Spikes Lynda Stevens Nancy Tamez Barbara Thomas Helen Tipps Emily Twaddel Alan Vickers Sonya White Astrid Winkle Julie Wohlers Bridget Walsh |
These 53 new members hail from 18 states in the U.S., plus France, Germany, Ireland, and Canada. Welcome to all of you! If you have not yet received a Welcome letter from me, please email me at sylviamiller@woh.rr.com. I hope you're already taking advantage of the listserv to network with other SIG members.
Our members are busy! Here are a few that emailed me.
George has more than 14 years of experience as a technical writer but is making great progress toward becoming a Web developer. He has one Web site with an online store and will soon be adding a second online store. He's using PHP, MySQL, CSS, and HTML to build his sites, and plans to add Java and Javascript to his development toolbox. He has a B.S. in Journalism and an MBA with plans to finish his B.S. in Computer Science very soon. You can email him at gardell1015@MyE.net.
Vincent
E. Lasnick, Ph.D.Vincent is an instructional designer/Developer & Knowledge Architect. He has written the following article:
Lasnik, V.E. (in press). "Developing Prescriptive Taxonomies for Distance Learning Instructional Design." In Patricia L. Rogers, (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Distance Learning (Volume 1: Distance Learning Technologies and Applications). Scheduled for publication in spring of 2005 by Idea Group Publishing.
The following is an abstract of his article:
One of the central problems and corresponding challenges facing the fields
of distance learning and instructional design has been in the construction
of theory-grounded, research-based taxonomies for prescribing what particular
strategies and approaches should be employed when, how, and in what combination
to be most effective. This article addresses the critical issues involved
with understanding the nature and function of prescriptive educational
taxonomies for improving instructional design solutions within the burgeoning
field of online learning and distance learning environments.
For more information, visit http://www.idea-group.com/encyclopedia/.
Jane SmithOur own IDL President is one of those very busy folks! Jane has more than 18 years of experience in instructional design, and in 2003 was designated a Certified Performance Technologist by the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI).
Over the next several months Jane will facilitate "Developing E-Learning Courses" in Phoenix, San Francisco, Chicago, and Baltimore. For STC members Jane is offering a $100 discount. Go to http://www.jemcommunications.com/Crs-DevELrng.htm for more information.
Lee S. TesdellLee presented his paper titled Converting Technical Communication Courses to Online Delivery: Learning Objects, Software Tools, and Delivery Media in an E-Learning Environment at the 2004 International Professional Communication Conference (IPCC) recently held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. IPCC is organized by the Professional Communication Society of IEEE and publishes the conference papers in a volume of proceedings. Lee is an assistant professor at Minnesota State University, Mankato where he teaches technical communication courses online. Check out his Web site at http://www.intech.mnsu.edu/tesdel.
Have you noticed the excellent articles by our IDL SIG members in recent issues of Intercom?
"Come Play! Using Games to Teach, Motivate, and Engage" by Karen Baranich (September/October issue)
"E-Learning: When and Why" by Jane Smith (September/October issue)
Other good instructional design articles have also appeared in recent issues of Intercom. Hats off to these folks for taking the time to share their knowledge with all of us!
You can see that you have a wealth of experienced folks whose brains you can pick at conferences and to whom you can post questions, issues, and challenges through the listserv.
While you're patiently awaiting the next IDL SIG newsletter, remember
to send me information about your recent accomplishments. Send them to
me at sylviamiller@woh.rr.com.
(Be sure your email editor doesn't correct "woh" to "who.")
Wanna find out what's happening in STC and in the Instructional Design and Learning SIG? Well here are just a few things that you might find interesting:
SIG Goals | Web-Based Training Survey | Intercom Online | Salary Survey | New Membership Categories, Rates. and Dues Renewal
Greetings SIG Members,
A hearty thanks to each and every one of you who participated in the survey that our leadership team member, Jenny Achtemichuk, developed during the summer. From your responses, we were able to determine some of your concerns and begin to take steps to address those. The SIG Leadership Team met early in September to determine goals and begin to make plans towards obtaining those goals.
First, as a SIG, we need to pat ourselves on the back for our participation and presence at this year's conference. Because of that presence, we are in a better place to communicate our needs and concerns with the International staff. Second, we are in a better position to retain and gain members and to invite more active participation from you.
At our September meeting, the team decided on two broad goals, based on your responses and our own conversations with members individually or at the conference:
Goal 1: Provide meaningful and timely information to members regarding SIG activities, SIG/ID-related issues, and how to participate.
To do this, we plan to:
Add more links and resource information to the Resources section of our website. Jackie Damrau is heading up that task, and you can help by giving her names of job resources, organizations, events, training resources, and ID sites by completing the contribution form at http://www.stcsig.org/idl/resources_add.shtml or sending an email to Jackie at jdamrau3@airmail.net . Thanks, Jackie!
Create a business directory in which members can advertise their services. Jackie has also assumed responsibility for this section. You can submit information at: http://www.stcsig.org/idl/directory_new.shtml. Thanks, Jackie!
Solicit and find meaningful articles and information related to instructional design and learning for the newsletter. The due dates and publication dates have already been established. David Williams, williams.210@nd.edu, is heading up this effort. You can submit articles to him or volunteer to assist with the newsletter. He has successfully distributed three newsletters this year, including this current edition. Congrats, David!
Goal 2: Organize teams and committees to streamline work efforts, minimize duplication of efforts, and involve as many members as possible.
To that end, we organized these teams:
Newsletter Team, managed by by David Williams, to coordinate the newsletter including obtaining articles and information, and publishing the newsletter,
Web Site Team, managed by Matt van Sickle with Chris Emanuelli as primary technical guru who has been doing it all so far. Thanks, Chris! And Welcome, Matt!
Conference Committee, headed by Karen Baranich, to coordinate SIG sessions and SIG activities at the conference, including a luncheon, SIG table materials, give-aways, business meeting, and any other activities decided by the team or suggested by members.
Online Forum, headed up by Michelle Didier, who has finished her Master's degree and has returned to the SIG leadership. Thanks, Michelle!
Membership Committee, headed up by Sylvia Miller, who is responsible for sending welcome letters and maintaining membership information including obtaining member news for the website and newsletter.
Some of these folks may be contacting you directly or via the listserv to obtain help for their teams. After reading your input, we realize that we need to be more specific, so expect to see lists of skills and specific help that we can use to keep the SIG information flowing and growing. If you want to contact any of these people to volunteer your services and ideas, use the links provided.
Thanks again to all of you who gave us feedback and thanks, in advance, to those of you who are willing to contribute your ideas and time. We appreciate you!
Jane Smith
P.S. A quick note. At my request, STC will be adding the job title, "instructional designer" to their membership form. Please be sure to select it if it applies. It will give us some good data for moving forward, and we want to be sure to have enough select it to keep it on the form. Thanks.
Does your work involve some aspect of the design, development, production, administration, support, and/or evaluation of web-based training (WBT)? If so, you can contribute to our body of knowledge about those who work with WBT by participating in an online national survey and asking others who also work with WBT to take the survey.
Briefly, you will access the online survey here
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=7419633537
…and respond to the 36 main survey items (quick choice selections) and some demographic questions. Preliminary tests show that the survey takes 15-45 minutes to complete. More about this research project and procedures are detailed at the survey site including contact information for Texas Tech University Human Resources, my dissertation chair, and my survey sponsor. The survey closes November 30, 2004.
Note: The survey is housed on SurveyMonkey, and they do use cookies for the time you are taking the survey. However, they do not store information on you. Also, their servers have been pretty slow lately. I apologize for that.
If you are in my survey population, please help by taking the survey! If you are not in my survey population but know someone who is, please help by forwarding this survey announcement to them.
Thanks!!!!!!
Ida L. Rodgers, ABD
Texas Tech University
Technical Communications & Rhetoric
ilr@rhettime.net
The new Intercom Online is now available on the STC Web site! You can view the site at http://www.stc.org/intercom.
Previously, the Intercom section of the STC Web site contained links to the feature articles of the current issue. The new Intercom Online contains links to the entire Intercom article index for the current issue, including letters to the editor, Society Pages, and departments such as Witful Thinking and Off Hours. The new Intercom Online also features a full-text search utility that allows precise searches of all back issues from 1999 to the present. Some articles from the current issue will be available as "teasers" to non-members, but most of the articles will be reserved for members only.
Intercom Online is completely data-driven and has been entirely designed using CSS. Like the rest of the STC Web site, Intercom Online has been validated using W3C utilities and should prove extremely accessible and compatible. Intercom Online includes built-in accessibility features; to learn more about these features, click the "Accessibility" link in the footer of any page in the Intercom Online site.
Improving the value of STC remains our goal, and we're excited to add this helpful feature to the STC Web site!
STC's 2004 Technical Communicator Salary Survey is now available on STC's Web site at www.stc.org/salarySurvey.asp. As in past years, the survey features information about salaries and benefits for STC members in the U.S. and Canada. The survey breaks down salary information by levels of experience, levels of education, gender, and ZIP Code/postal code.
This year, for the first time, the survey form was sent to STC members all over the world. Two countries outside of North America—Israel and India—produced enough responses to be statistically significant. Salary information about those countries has been included in the survey results.
To access the survey, you'll need to log onto the members-only section of the STC Web site using your member number and password. Your member number appears on your STC membership card and just above your address on the mailing label of Intercom. Password help is available on the logon screen.
STC is introducing new membership categories this fall. The new categories vary in price and give members the option of joining multiple STC communities (chapters and SIGs). Membership dues have not been increased.
Printed dues renewal invoices will be mailed in late November to all members who do not renew their memberships online at the STC Web site. For membership dues, STC accepts checks in U.S. dollars or Canadian equivalent, and American Express, MasterCard, and VISA payments. Dues payments must be received by January 1, 2005. (A grace period extends to February 28, 2005.) Note that only members who have paid their dues by February 28, 2005, will be eligible to vote in the STC election.
The renewal invoices for 2005 allow members to choose one of four new individual membership categories approved by the STC board of directors. (For more information on the new categories, see “Board Establishes New Membership Categories” in the September 2004 Tieline.) The rates for 2005 dues are as follows:
| Category |
Cost (in USD)
|
|
| Classic Membership |
U.S. members: Canadian members:
|
145.00 145.00 + $15 postage*
|
| Limited Membership |
U.S. members: Canadian members:
|
125.00 125.00 + $15 postage* |
| E-Membership |
U.S. members: Canadian members: Overseas members: |
135.00 135.00
|
| Student Membership |
U.S. members: Canadian members: Overseas members: |
50.00 50.00
|
*Postage covers costs of mailing printed copies of Intercom and Technical Communication.
**To qualify for the retired member rate, an individual must be retired and have been an STC member for at least ten years.
Two groups of members do not receive a dues renewal invoice in November: members who join STC on or after November 1, 2004, and sustaining organizations. Sustaining organizations are billed separately in July.
If you have any questions about dues renewal, please contact the membership
department.
STC-related news reprinted with permission. Originally appeared in STC Newsletter, Tieline, July - October 2004 issues. All rights reserved.
STC offers several opportunities to learn and improve your knowledge in technical communication and instructional design. Check out some of these opportunities to update your skill set, have fun, and increase your earning potential!
Next Year's Conference | About Telephone and Web-Telephone Seminars | Upcoming Seminars
It's an exciting time for technical communicators! We're at the convergence of two important trends for our profession.
The first looks inward at transforming STC to respond effectively to changes in technology, business, and professional roles. Each of these changes brings a challenge to learn new skills, to communicate our value, and to understand the role of communications in the ever-changing business environment.
The second springs from an increasing focus on user experience as part of the design and development process. Communication is a critical element of this work, whether the focus is on technical documentation, Web sites, software interfaces, or wireless applications, to name just a few. As we look outwards, STC members have much to share with—and to learn from—those whose skills overlap with ours. Whatever our titles, our goals are often similar: a usable, useful, and effective information-based product.
You are invited to be part of this vision of technical communication as central to every user experience. We welcome proposals that share your ideas, research, or practice in an interdisciplinary field such as usability, information design, or information architecture or in a traditional STC field such as writing and editing, education and research, consulting, or management.
Be part of STC's transformation and help make the 52nd Annual Conference in Seattle, Washington, an event that can't be missed. For more details, visit http://www.stc.org/conference.asp.
What is a Telephone Seminar?
A telephone seminar is much like a large conference call in which the speaker makes a presentation over the phone. As a participant, you simply dial the 800 number from your phone, enter your personal identification number, and you're connected! You then sit back and listen to the presentations and join in the lively Q&A discussion that follows.
What is a Web-telephone seminar?
STC is expanding its telephone seminar series to include presentations
with Web-based features. In a Web- telephone seminar, participants listen
to the presenter over the phone (much like a conference call) while viewing
presentation materials over the Web. This format provides easier access
to materials for reference during the presentation, as well as a more
intimate, "classroom" setting than the typical telephone seminar.
Wing Group, LLC hosts the site
Wing Group, LLC, located in Nashua NH, started hosting the site for the 2004 STC telephone seminars on October 6. We need a minimum of 5 people to keep the cost at or below $20 per person. Of course, the more people who sign up, the less you'll have to pay, so encourage your fellow technical communicators to come!
How do I sign up and pay?
Sign up: Email your name, phone number, and the name of the seminar you would like to attend at least 7 days prior to the event to: stcphoneseminars@wing-group.com.
Cost: Depends on the number of registrants. We will notify you by email of the cost (the maximum would be $20).
Payment: Send check or money order made out to "Wing Group, LLC", 4 days prior to the event to:
Wing Group, LLC
20 Trafalgar Square, Ste 455
Nashua, NH
Note: Wing Group, LLC reserves the right to cancel hosting of a seminar if the minimum of 5 people is not met and if their payments do not reach Wing Group, LLC at least 48 hours prior to the seminar. Refunds will be given for cancellations made at least 48 hours prior to the seminar.
Site location:
Wing Group, LLC
20 Trafalgar Square
Fourth Floor
Nashua, NH
(603) 589-4076
Are you interested in having a telephone seminar at your site?
With a telephone seminar, the cost is per site, not per person. Train as many people as your conference room can hold — for one flat rate!
| Members: | $99 |
| Non-members: | $149 |
If you would like to have a telephone seminar at your site, visit http://stc.webex.com/ to register.
All seminars are held from 1:00 - 2.30 pm US Eastern Time
| Dec 8, 2004 | Highlighting Hazards: Mastering Warnings and Error Messages | Leah Guren |
| Jan 12, 2005 | Preemptive Project Planning | John Hedtke |
| Jan 26, 2005 | A Pound of Salt, A Pint of Blood - Getting the Most Out of Your Contractors to Ensure Project Success | Tom White |
| Feb 2, 2005 | Sentence Diagramming | Ann Jennings |
| Mar 9, 2005 | That's a Good Question! | Elizabeth Frick |
For more information on each of these seminars, visit http://www.stc.org/seminars.asp.
Reprinted with permission. Society news originally appeared in STC Newsletter, Tieline, July - October 2004 issues. All rights reserved.
1. E-Learning Tools and Technologies
2. Rapid Instructional Design: Learning ID Fast and Right
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E-Learning Tools and Technologies
William and Katherine Horton
Indianapolis, IN : Wiley Publishing, 2003
First Edition, 574 pages, softcover
ISBN: 0-471-44458-8
Cost: $40
>> Reviewed by Tony Chu <<
This book is exactly what its subtitle says: "A consumer's guide for trainers, teachers, educators, and instructional designers." It's a great place to start if you're in the uncomfortable position of having to make decisions about implementing e-learning — especially if you're under pressure to get it right the first time and if you feel that you don't know enough about:
A great deal of experience and care has gone into the planning, organization, and execution of this book. William Horton, a well-known expert on online training and information strategies, created the ASTD e-learning series of books in 2001 and 2002. This new book is a collaboration with Katherine Horton, the other half of "William Horton Consulting, Inc."
The Hortons walk their readers through e-learning and its many components. They explain basic terminology and cover the field in enormous breadth while trying to keep a reasonable limit on the depth. They cover all stages of the e-learning cycle: planning, creating, offering, and using. This is extremely practical information: the book is a one-stop kick-start for anyone entering the field. Throughout, the Hortons remind readers that the fundamental goal is good training—something that is easily forgotten in the race to use sexy technology.
The book begins with an overview and some level-setting background, and then examines the marketplace by separating tools into three categories:
One chapter is devoted to each functional piece of the e-learning puzzle (media players, collaboration tools, learning management systems, course authoring tools, test generation/assessment tools, etc.). Each chapter covers:
Although the product descriptions are not as detailed as a true "Consumer Reports" analysis (there's no table of side-by-side positive/negative comparisons among products), the Hortons do provide a brief description for each major product (key features, cost), and a list of other vendors to investigate.
In addition to the section and chapter structure, the book uses other techniques to help keep all the topics straight. Conceptual frameworks are used to explain where each type of tool fits into the overall picture. Screen captures from actual software are plentiful. (If you've ever wondered what a Learning Management System does or how it differs from a Learning Content Management System, it helps to see a bit of a guided tour!) Most importantly, the book is written in a clear and lucid style, with touches of humor. The occasional "rants" and editorial opinions are usually presented as sidebars, so as not to directly interfere with the facts.
If I could change anything about the book, I would shorten some of the introductory chapters. Understandably, the authors assume minimal technical knowledge because they want to reach a heterogeneous audience. And I do buy their argument that you need to know basic concepts about networks and servers, not because you need to set them up, but because you need to dialogue with those who do, and be aware of the potential (or limitations) of what is already in place. On the other hand, I expect that most readers don't really need a review of basic PC components or an explanation of what browsers do. This is only a minor comment, but you should be aware that the introductory material takes up about one fifth of the book.
How long the book's content will remain current is another minor concern, given the speed with which the e-learning landscape changes as technology evolves and new products emerge. The authors end their book by looking into the future and discussing trends, and their last sentence acknowledges that "this is only the first edition of this book." Fortunately, the book is also supported by a Web site, which is advertised to contain the latest information along with useful forms and spreadsheets.
Organizations often struggle to use e-learning effectively. With so many options available, it's easy to over-analyze, become baffled, or make unsuccessful choices. E-Learning is by no means a panacea: you can spend lots of money and still produce bad training. You might buy a tool suite that constrains you to a single instructional model or theory. Or you might be avoiding e-learning altogether because it seems elusive and costly, with an unclear return on investment. In my case, I was looking for an expert overview that covered a lot of ground about the e-learning field, technology, and marketplace. If you're in the same boat, I highly recommend this book.
Tony Chu is a technical communicator with extensive experience as a corporate trainer, training manager, and consultant. He has designed and delivered training for both technical and non-technical topics. His other areas of interest include technical writing, group facilitation, and process mapping. You can contact him at: chuhouse@sympatico.ca.
Rapid Instructional Design: Learning ID Fast and Right
George M. Piskurich
San Francisco : Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer, 2000
320 pages, softcover
ISBN: 0-7879-6051-9
Cost: $40
>> Reviewed by Mike Tillmans, PhD.<<
Thirty years ago instructional design (ID) was simpler. You came from one of two schools of thought: media design or educational psychology. The fusion of these competing ideas over time gave us emphasis in training, project management, consulting skills and now human performance technology.
Dr. Piskurich's recent book is a good example of the media development and project management lines of thought, and will be very useful for trainers who need to understand, if not implement, a training development process. (For learning theory, you might wish to consult Instructional Design by Smith and Ragan or The Conditions of Learning: Training Applications by Gagne and Medsker.)
Given the needs of most training groups today, the book's message is very appealing: Get it done fast and get it done right! The author's method of delivering this advice is to encourage the use of practical checklists and technology to speed up the process.
The ID process is divided into six stages, and suggestions for speed and quality are provided for each. Dr. Piskurich's corresponding rules for good instructional design are:
The shortcuts Piskurich provides number near 50. Here are a few of the better examples he explains:
Piskurich recommends and provides checklists that instructional designers can use to assist them with each step of the design process. He also includes useful checklists that help designers:
Throughout the book, the author also refers to excellent resources that are practical and easily accessible for the reader who needs additional information about the topic discussed.
Rapid Instructional Design is recommended for any instructional designer who needs to work faster, whether beginner or experienced veteran. It is a practical look at how we work, and how we can be better.
Mike Tillmans has extensive project management, training development
and process analysis experience in business and education. His areas of
interest include curriculum planning, job/task analysis, group facilitation,
process mapping, and training materials development and evaluation. He
currently teaches ID, KM and online design at the Illinois Institute of
Technology (IIT) in Chicago. You can contact Mike at
tillmans@iit.edu. Visit his web site at: www.iit.edu/~com535
Were there articles that you found helpful? Is IDeaL: Design for Learning serving your needs? Is there an article or feature that you would like to see in the future?
Share your thoughts about the newsletter or give us your suggestions on how we can improve the newsletter by sending your letters to the Editor to Williams.210@nd.edu.
There were no letters this edition. Your input is important, so please don't hesitate to send us your letters!
How do I contribute to the newsletter? How often is the newsletter published? What's the mission of the Instructional Design & Learning SIG? Find out this and more in this section!
Publication Info | STC Mission | IDL SIG Mission & Leadership | Meet the Newsletter Team | Article Contributing & Article Guidelines | Give Us Feedback
IDeaL: Design for Learning is published for members of the Instructional Design and Learning (IDL) SIG of the Society for Technical Communication.
It is pubished three times a year in the spring (mid-March), summer (mid-July) , and fall (mid-November). Article submission deadlines are: February 5, June 5, and October 5.
The mission of the Society of Technical Communication is to create and support a forum for communities of practice in the profession of technical communication.
The mission of the IDL SIG is to help STC members identify and develop knowledge and practical skills for designing, developing, and implementing technical instruction in electronic and traditional classroom settings. The SIG strives to promote sound design practices, provide information, and educate about instructional theory and research. The leadership team consists of:
SIG Manager: Jane Smith
SIG Membership Manager: Sylvia
Miller
Web Site Manager: Matt
Van Sickle
Newsletter Editor: David
Williams
Business Directory Coordinator: Jackie
Damrau
Conference Committee Coordinator: Karen
Baranich
Online Forum Coordinator: Michele
Didier
David Williams
Sylvia Miller
Jackie Damrau
William Collins
Jackie Damrau
Andrea Kenner
Marcia Krause
Aisha Pena
Steve Ruder
Sophia Siraki
George Ardell
Jack Butler
Ann-Marie Grissino
Tony Chu
Kim Lambdin
Vincent E. Lasnick
Harman Singh
Jane Smith
Lee S. Tesdell
Mike Tillmans
We encourage you to submit for consideration content of interest to those who do instructional design or wish to learn more about this field
Content should relate to instructional design and learning. This includes:
Articles can range from 25 words to approximately 1000 words. If your article is particularly lengthy, consider breaking it into smaller submissions (i.e., part 1, part 2, etc.) that we could publish in successive issues.
To assist in writing your article, here are just a few tips to keep in mind:
The editorial staff reserves the right to edit a submission or break a submission into successive parts for publication where deemed necessary.
Send your articles in electronic format (.doc, .rtf, .wpd, or body of email) to:
David Williams, Editor at: williams.210@nd.edu
You can also send articles to:
David Williams
1058 Portage Ave., #4
South Bend, IN 46616
Our next issue is due out in March 2005. The deadline for articles is February 5, 2005.
Thanks for taking a moment to give us feedback!
We want to ensure that the newsletter is serving your needs. If you have suggestions on how we can improve the newsletter, please send your suggestions to Williams.210@nd.edu.
© 2004
The Instructional Design & Learning SIG, The Society for Technical Communication
The contents of this site, including all images and text, are for personal,
educational, non-commercial use only. The contents of this site may not be reproduced
in any form without the permission of the content author.
STC | Instructional Design & Learning SIG | About IDeaL: Design for Learning | Send Us Feedback
