November 16, 2016 IDL SIG Virtual Open House

Join the IDL SIG online for our Virtual Open House!

5 pm Pacific / 6 pm Mountain / 7:00 pm Central / 8:00 pm Eastern

Wed, November 16, 2016

Watch the recording at http://stc.adobeconnect.com/p70g5iisf77/

See the slides below or download the slides as pdf here or as a PowerPoint here.

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As a virtual community, with all of our members scattered across the globe, we do not have the same opportunities as geographically-based communities to meet up face-to-face. Since 2013, we have hosted the IDL SIG Virtual Open House (VOH) so that new and prospective IDL SIG members could learn more about our community’s mission and goals, learn more about member benefits, and meet some of our leaders and volunteers.

During our VOH, participants have always had the opportunity to ask questions about the SIG and what we offer.

Virtual Party, too!

This year, we’d like to try something new. We’d like to combine our VOH with a virtual party (VP), where we would encourage all attendees to share a photo or story. The VP (not be confused with Vice President!) we hope will add a very human, personal side to our VOH. Hey, it is all about making real, enduring connections!

About the webinar

The webinar will be recorded so feel free to watch with us online and then rewatch at your leisure. No need to take notes. If you cannot attend, sign up anyway so that you will get a link to the recording.

See the 2015 VOH recording and slides on our website.

See the 2014 VOH recording on Adobe Connect.

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November 16, 2016 “Get a Move On! Animation Techniques in PowerPoint” presented by Robert Hershenow

Join the IDL SIG online for “Get a Move On! Animation Techniques in PowerPoint” presented by Robert Hershenow.

10:30 AM Pacific / 11:30 AM Mountain / 12:30 PM Central / 1:30 PM Eastern

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

UPDATE: This webinar was a huge success! See the recording on our Free recordings of IDL SIG webinars for members page. (requires password. Contact programs@stcidlsig.org if you did not yet receive your password.)

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The Society for Technical Communication’s Instructional Design & Learning special interest group (IDL SIG) invites you to an engaging webinar about our old friend PowerPoint, presented in a new way by Robert Hershenow.

The webinar will be recorded so feel free to watch with us online and then rewatch at your leisure. No need to take notes. If you cannot attend, sign up anyway so that you will get a link to the recording. You will receive an email prior to the webinar with instructions about logging in.

About the webinar

Get a Move On!
Animation Techniques in PowerPoint
Presented by Robert Hershenow

Have you ever wished your presentations could be more exciting?

Software like PowerPoint and Keynote just keeps getting better. A big part of that is animation, which can help your presentations stand out (for better or for worse). Research has shown that we learn best through multisensory stimulation – ideally, narration and pictures together. Animating visual components can add interest, depth, and cognitive complexity, increasing audience engagement and long-term recall. On the other hand, when animation is poorly executed or overdone it can have the opposite effect.

In this webinar you’ll learn how and when to use different types of animation and how to fine-tune each one to best advantage. You’ll get plenty of tips on:

  • Optimizing timing
  • Creating cinematic effects
  • Animating text, pictures, and shapes
  • Best practices for slide transitions
  • Using events to trigger animations
  • Building custom animations

Plus, we’ll look at some of PowerPoint’s exciting new features and discuss how to avoid common problems. (Note that while demonstrations will be in PowerPoint, the concepts they illustrate will apply to any presentation software.)

Join this webinar and discover new ways to make your presentations pop!

The webinar will be recorded so feel free to watch with us online and then rewatch at your leisure. No need to take notes. If you cannot attend, sign up anyway so that you will get a link to the recording. You will receive an email prior to the webinar with instructions about logging in.

About the speaker

Robert Hershenow is a technical communications professional with more than twenty years of experience as a writer, trainer, manager, and consultant. Currently Co-Manager of the STC Instructional Design and Learning SIG, Robert lives and works in Berkeley, California.

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Announcing the IDL Newsletter- Q3 2016

Newsletter Banner
Q3 / 2016

From the Editor

by Crista Mohammed

Crista Mohammed (1)

Hello SIG members, trust and hope that all is well.  Pleased as punch to offer up another exciting installment of IDeaL: Design for Learning. In this issue, we have purposely focused, in four articles and the co-manager’s column, on some of the many benefits of SIG membership. Consider this a reminder about some of the amazing resources at your disposal.  I know you have and will continue making the best use of them. I urge you to spread the word about your awesome SIG!

Robert Hershenow, in the co-manager’s column, names his MVB’s. What are MVB’s ? Well, they are the Most Valuable Benefits of his STC membership. Robert has been an active STC member for twenty years, so he knows a thing or two about belonging to this amazing, professional body. Read more

Sylvia Miller updates us on the SIG’s outreach efforts. You may recall last issue’s article about the IDL SIG’s Student Outreach. Well our plans, by dint of hard-work and determination, have come to fruition. The IDL SIG leadership has worked tirelessly to put together the instruments for our student outreach competition. From now until December 31st 2016, the IDL SIG will accept original articles from students, for publication in this very newsletter. Winners earn one year’s free membership to the STC and the IDL SIG. Plus, there is one more great incentive to start writing those essays. Read more

Marcia Shannon, our new SIG Secretary, gives an account of some of the SIG’s summer activities, in the Secretary’s column. In keeping with our general theme of “SIG Membership Benefits”, Marcia describes how membership rates can be prorated based on your time of enrollment. Read more.

Mellissa Ruryk, our resident Word™ guru, explains how to select vertical text. Her approach is entirely new to me and is definitely less frustrating than my piecemeal, painstaking copying and pasting. To watch Mellissa’s demonstration of how to master and dominate vertical text click here.

Jamye Sagan reports on a well-regarded, free service to all SIG members-Training Materials Evaluations. All SIG members can access expert reviews of their training materials. When it comes to ensuring quality in your work product there is no substitute for another pair of eyes. Read more.

Viqui Dill provides a timely reminder of one of the SIG’s many awesome membership benefits-Free Webinars! Yes, all SIG members enjoy free enrollment in regularly mounted webinars. Unable to tune in live? Well you can access, also for free, all of the SIGs webinars which are  recorded and archived for your convenience! Read more.

Jamye Sagan invites all IDL SIG and prospective members to join our annual Virtual Open House (VOH). The IDL SIG’s VOH is our much anticipated, social event at which the membership meets and greets newbies!  And newbies get to meet us! Read more

Two issues ago Virginia Butler made a heartfelt plea to mentor in the STC Mentorship Programme. Then I wrote a piece on the professional gains to be had by volunteering. In this issue, I share how I have personally benefited from over twenty years of volunteering. Read more.

From your Co-Manager: Most Valuable Benefit Awards

by Robert Hershenow, Co-manager

RHershenow

I’m often reminded of how much I appreciate belonging to the STC and the IDL SIG. I’ve been a member for twenty years, and every year my membership has benefitted me in some way. I’d like to offer my take on the Most Valuable Benefits (MVBs) of membership which keep me coming back.

When I was just getting started in tech comm, being able to turn to STC friends and contacts for ideas or technical help – or a reality check with someone outside my corporate bubble – was a great help more than once. So MVB Award #1 goes to all of us – all of you – who make STC worthwhile.

When I became a consultant and launched my own business, having to pay my own way made me take a hard look at expenses. But I chose to maintain my STC membership. I had become Managing Editor of the IDL SIG newsletter, a job I had always wanted and as it turned out, really enjoyed and learned from. That enjoyment (and the dedication it inspired) led to my receiving the Distinguished SIG Service Award, an honor which made me proud, earned me some recognition, and continues to look good on my resume.

The Technical Communication Summit is another Most Valuable Benefit. Actually, it comprises several. Summit offers a super-rich learning experience and an annual chance to meet face-to-face with virtual collaborators and pals. I have always found it inspirational, and it’s probably an STC high point for most of us.

I’ve missed a few Summit conferences over the years. But in 2014 – when other responsibilities prevented me from attending – STC offered the first Virtual Summit, a selection of learning sessions, interviews, and commentary streamed over the Web. You can stay home (or anywhere you have internet access) and still attend. I’m glad I said yes. It was smooth, professionally hosted, glitch-free, and it exposed me to rewarding educational content I might not have chosen had I attended in person. I’m giving the Virtual Summit an MVB Award of its own.

The third conference-related MVB goes to Summit Playback, an online collection of recordings that lets attendees and others re-experience Summit’s educational sessions. Access is included with the price of Summit registration, or can be purchased separately.
https://www.stc.org/education/stc-summit/summit-playback/

A few more benefits of the Summit: If you deliver a presentation, it can pay your registration fee. If you are a student and you volunteer to help with registration or other duties, you can also get in free. And, there is a great party that has often featured a dance concert and open-mic night with STC’s own house band, The Rough Drafts. Summit 2017 happens in the Washington, DC area. Find out more: https://www.stc.org/education/stc-summit/

But that’s not all! Both STC and some of the SIGs, including the IDL SIG, offer regular webinars on topics of interest to technical communicators. And many Chapters hold regular meetings featuring live presenters, often over dinner. These can be great opportunities to learn, network, and socialize. Check out the IDL SIG’s calendar of webinars and meetings at http://www.stcidlsig.org/events/calendar/.

More MVBs: the Tech Comm Body of Knowledge (TCBOK); the STC Mentor Board; the STC Career Center; and STC’s publications: Intercom Magazine, Technical Communication, and the Notebook blog. All of these are available to members on STC’s web site https://www.stc.org/ .

Finally, your IDL SIG’s email discussion group has been very lively in the past, though participation has fallen off in the last few years. We’d like to see this trend turn back the other way. The mailing list’s potential is huge, allowing SIG members to tap into the vast storehouse of knowledge and experience that our membership represents. Do you have a question or comment about ID or tech comm? Send it to the group and get the party started. Here’s everything you need to know (please at least skim this page):
http://www.stcidlsig.org/discussion-lists/list-policies-etiquette/

I hope to see you online!

About IDeaL: Design for Learning

Publication Policy: We invite letters, articles, book reviews, and other items for publication. Articles may contain up to 1,000 words. Picture formats: JPG, GIF, PNG; Text format: Word, RTF, or ASCII. Send items to Crista Mohammed at newsletter@stcidlsig.org

Advertising Policy and Rates: We encourage advertising as long as it follows STC guidelines and promotes services of interest to IDL SIG members.

Ad sizes and rates:

Half page (7.5×4.5): $75 (1 issue); $225 (4 issues)

Business Card (3.5×2): $25 (1 issue); $100 (4 issues)

Please submit electronic copy only in .TIF, .GIF, or .PNG format. Send ads to Crista Mohammed at newsletter@stcidlsig.org. Make checks payable to Society for Technical Communication and send to: Robert Hershenow, STC IDL SIG, 616 Colusa Ave, Berkeley CA 94707.

Copyright Statement: This newsletter invites technical communicators in the field of instructional design to submit articles for publication. The authors implicitly grant a license to this newsletter to run the submission, and for other STC publications to reprint it without permission. Copyright is held by the author. Let the editor know in your cover letter if the article has run elsewhere, and if it has been submitted for consideration to other publications. Design and layout of this newsletter are copyright STC, 2005‐2016.

IDL SIG Website: http://www.stcidlsig.org

SIG Newsletter Archives: http://www.stcidlsig.org/wp/newsletter/

 

 

October 20, 2016 Student Outreach Article Competition Q&A with Sylvia Miller

Join the IDL SIG online for the Student Outreach Article Competition Q&A with Sylvia Miller.

11:00 am Pacific / 12:00 noon Mountain / 1:00 pm Central / 2:00 pm Eastern

Thursday, October 20, 2016

UPDATE:  An overview of the program is available as a webinar! See the recording and slides here.

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The Society for Technical Communication’s Instructional Design & Learning special interest group (IDL SIG) invites undergraduate- and graduate-level students to submit an article related to instructional design for publication in our quarterly newsletter, IDeaL: Design for Learning. Besides having your article published in a professional publication read by hundreds of practicing instructional designers, you will receive a one-year complimentary STC student membership, which includes a membership in the IDL SIG.

The webinar will be recorded so feel free to watch with us online and then rewatch at your leisure. No need to take notes. If you cannot attend, sign up anyway so that you will get a link to the recording.

About the Audience

Students, instructors, professors, and all academic staff in instructional design-related fields are encouraged to attend. The webinar is open and free to STC members and non-members. Mentors, friends, and curious bystanders are also invited to attend.

About the Webinar and Speaker

This webinar will discuss how the program works and answer any questions you may have.

Sylvia Miller is coordinating the program. She will give us the straight story and get you excited about participating. Read more about the program on our website.

We are using Adobe Connect to host the webinar. If you register, you will receive an email with log in instructions. http://stc.adobeconnect.com/idl/

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UPDATE:  An overview of the program is available as a webinar! See the recording and slides here.

September 8 – 29, 2016 (Thursdays) Instructional Design for Technical Communicators

Charged with developing a tutorial or similar instructional program? Or have you developed tutorials but are looking to do so more effectively

This 4-session, online certificate course provides you with the skills needed to successfully produce effective learning programs, including following the ADDIE approach, writing instructional objectives, developing criterion-referenced quizzes and tests, describing the dominant Kirkpatrick model of evaluation, choosing an instructional strategy then applying it, and creating engaging, supportive instructional programs.

Register on  icon-stc-24.