SIG NEWS

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 Activities
As a result of the SIG’s re-chartering effort, the IDL SIG leadership team is beginning strategic planning. Anyone wanting to participate in planning our activities for the next year is invited to contact Jane Smith (jemcomm@sedona.net) to find the call-in numbers. All meetings are held via teleconference on Thursdays at 1:00 Eastern time. The following areas are up for discussion during the upcoming team meetings or via email:

• Ideas for conference activities and sessions for next year - June 23rd
• Programs (webinars, etc.) – July 14th
• SIG Communications – e-blasts, listserv policies, summaries of discussion questions, etc. – Aug 4th
• Web enhancements – TBD
• Tools, technologies, best practices – TBD
• Speakers’ bureau – TBD
• Mentors’ bureau – TBD
• Scholarship – TBD
• Recognition – TBD

For each of these areas, we’ll be determining goals and objectives, target dates, who’s responsible, and how we’ll follow up. To increase the events and activities of the SIG, we’ll need lots of volunteers. Many of you may be reluctant to take on an ongoing, regular position, so if you’re interested on something more of a one-time nature, please let us know. Becoming active in the SIG is a good way to meet some great people and make new friends.

In addition, Jane Smith, Jackie Damrau, Gene Holden, Michael Tillmans, and Beth Troell are all working on the TechComm2005 conference held in conjunction with the STC’s Phoenix Chapter on November 11th and 12th. Check the conference web site regularly for registration and program information:

http://www.region5conf.com/framesets/region5_Frameset.htm

Volunteers Needed
The IDL SIG, as STC’s first SIG of Distinction, would like to continue providing real value to its members. To do so and to continue being on the leading edge of the transformation, we need some help. Our current leadership team is a team of awesome, dedicated individuals who bring a wealth of both instructional design and leadership experience to the table. It’s a pleasure to work with such gifted people. If you want to work with them, get to know them/us better, and see how you can help your fellow technical communicators and instructional designers improve their skills and knowledge, you have three opportunities currently:

• Secretary – an individual to take notes during our leadership team calls and contribute to our strategic planning for the upcoming year or two.
• Treasurer – an individual to help us plan, budget, and monitor our income and expenses. During this year or the next, SIGs will all obtain the same level of control over their finances that chapters have, and we want to be ready to assume that responsibility with ease.
• An Associate Manager – an individual to work with Jane and the team with an eye towards becoming the SIG Manager in the next year or two.

If you’re willing to consider one of these positions in an exciting, growing community, please contact Jane Smith, jemcomm@sedona.net or 928-284-0455 to discuss the details. Thanks so much for your involvement!

STC 52nd Annual Conference Events & Summaries

The IDL SIG was awarded the first “SIG of Distinction” at the 2005 STC 52nd Annual Conference in Seattle, Washington. Congratulations all! (Others pictured: Judith Herr, Management SIG – SIG Pacesetter Award and Linda Gallagher, Consulting and Independent Contract SIG – SIG Pacesetter Award; Dana Chisnell, STC Board SIG Liaison)

CONFERENCE SUMMARIES
The conference was great fun for all of us, especially with our winning the SIG of Distinction. However, the educational and networking part was the best. In this issue, Jane Smith shares her review of the sessions in which she attended or presented. I encourage others who attended the conference to submit your summaries to share with our membership.

HANDLING YOUR MONEY AS AN INDEPENDENT
Jane Smith presented this 25-minute session as part of the Independent Contractors and Consultants’ SIG progression. She presented recommendations on how to set up bank accounts, credit cards, and your business to facilitate ease of tracking business expenses. She discussed software available to help. In addition, she provided some calculation worksheets to help you determine how much you need to save regularly to provide your own vacation, holiday, and “unemployment” pay, regardless of whether you get paid on a 1099 or a W2. She also provided calculation worksheets for saving for taxes and your Social Security Income (SSI) if you get paid on a 1099.

TRAINING EVALUATION SESSION
In this session, Maggie Haenel, Jane Smith, and Michael Tillmans provided review and comments to seven participants who had submitted their training materials for evaluation. Each participant got to spend 45 minutes with one of these instructional design experts to ask questions and gain constructive suggestions on how to improve their training materials, whether for classroom or electronic delivery.

PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES: THE BACKBONE OF COURSE DESIGN
In this session, that was part of the IDL SIG progression, Jane Smith presented the reasons for creating instructionally sound performance objectives along with the criteria for writing them. Participants had an opportunity to evaluate objectives as well as to correct unsound ones.

CONDUCTING THE TASK ANALYSIS: STICKIE BINGO
In this workshop, participants helped Jane Smith conduct a job task analysis for a common job using Post-it® Notes to create the task analysis chart that included: the job, roles, tasks, steps or guidelines, knowledge needed, processes, objectives, and assessments. After helping Jane, participants worked in groups to conduct an analysis of another common job. Participants learned the value of working with this visual technique and their subject matter experts to come to consensus on the tasks to train or to include in a document to avoid unnecessary rework and confusion.

PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGY: GOING BEYOND DOCUMENTATION AND TRAINING
In this workshop, participants followed Jane Smith as she applied Performance Technology techniques to a case study to determine the best solution set for a performance issue, whether that set included training and documentation or not. Participants learned about whom to include in the research, the areas to research, the strategies to use, and the questions to ask to determine root causes, optimal and actual goals, performance factors, and the most effective solutions to the performance issue. After Jane’s case study, participants worked in groups on another performance issue to determine whom to ask, the strategies they’ll use, and the questions they’ll ask to arrive at the most effective solutions.

ABCS OF INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
In this full-day post-conference workshop facilitated by Jane Smith, participants followed the instructional design (ID) process to learn some of the basic skills involved in designing effective and instructionally sound courses. Participants learned that they need to think differently to design courses from the way they think when they write manuals. In addition, they conducted an extensive job task analysis for a job given and then created their course structure from that analysis. They wrote the objective for a task in the analysis as well as the corresponding assessment. Then they determined effective instructional methods to teach to specific outcome types. They then looked at sample instructor and student guides and evaluated them for appropriateness for their organizations. Finally, they looked at evaluation levels and methods. Throughout the course, Jane provided instruction followed by exercises in which participants practiced the techniques and skills Jane taught. Participants left not only with a new set of skills but with a full course book to use as reference back on the job.

CONFERENCE IDL PROGRESSION REVIEW
By Karen Baranich,
Conference Committee Coordinator

Sixty-nine people attended the Instructional Design Progression at the STC conference in May. Overall, attendees gave the session very good evaluations. Here’s a sampling of the comments received:

“Good content, engaging presentation.”
“Very Helpful!”
“Exactly what I hoped and more.”
“Great examples!”

A progression gives attendees the chance to hear brief, 25-minute presentations on a variety of related subjects. Unlike a panel, where each presenter takes a turn, in a progression, the audience moves from table to table, listening to those presentations of personal interest. They are also good for new presenters, as the delivery is to a small group, and hence less formal—more like a classroom.

The IDL SIG hopes to sponsor a progression at the Las Vegas conference in 2006. You can help make this happen by showing your interest in presenting in the progression. Send an email by July 30 to me at kbaranich@scana.com with the following information:
• Proposed session title with
• 3–4 sentences about the topic
• Your contact information
• 3–4 sentence bio about yourself