Website for the STC Instructional Design & Learning Special Interest Group, a Community of Practice
All STC community scholarships are currently under study by STC. Therefore, the Instructional Design and Learning SIG will not be offering scholarships in 2016.
Within the coming months, check back at our College Scholarships page or at stc.org for information about a new scholarship program!
After the Summit last year, we were all fired up to conquer the world and arranged with Liz Pohland to guest edit an issue of Intercom. I mentioned this in our request for volunteers last fall but haven’t been diligent in reminding you, SIG members, that we need articles supplied by you. We need them by February 15 if we are going to make the originally-scheduled March 2016 issue.
These articles can be on any aspect of Instructional Design and Learning. Two questions we were asked at the Summit were: “How does ID differ from regular ‘technical writing’?” and “How do I break into ID?”
This is your honest-to-goodness chance to be PUBLISHED in a magazine that reaches an international audience. Pick one of the ideas above or your own area of expertise and let me know that you will commit to getting an article to me in the next couple of weeks. Be honest with yourself… had you been given 3 months’ notice (and really, you were) you’d still just be sitting down to write this weekend. So it’s not totally crazy to ask you to have something ready so quickly.
Everything you need to know about writing for Intercom is on http://intercom.stc.org/author-guidelines/ and there are no onerous requirements. In fact, you can re-use a previously-published article according to these notes from that page: An article should be accompanied by a note stating whether the article has appeared in another publication and whether you plan to submit it to another publication. At the end of the article, please include a brief biography of the author(s) and email addresses, or other contact information for the reader.
Publishing Rights
Authors retain copyright to their work in Intercom. The Society for Technical Communication requires that author(s) grant STC print rights to articles appearing in Intercom. The Society also requires that author(s) grant STC permission to reproduce the article for an indefinite period of time in any media. We also ask authors to wait six months before re-publishing an Intercom article elsewhere (such as on a personal blog). Once an article has been accepted for publication, authors will be asked to sign a licensing agreement. (this link works on the STC site).
So please leap into action, grab your pens, and save our rep for promising to help out and delivering on that promise.
Mellissa & Robert
Training Specialist
MN Department of Human Services
$44,767 – $65,668 annually
St. Paul, MN
*** This posting will be used to fill four vacancies ***
GREAT BENEFITS PACKAGE! The State of Minnesota offers a comprehensive benefits package including low cost medical and dental insurance, employer paid life insurance, short and long term disability, pre-tax flexible spending accounts, retirement plan, tax-deferred compensation, generous vacation and sick leave, and 11 paid holidays each year. This position is located in Minnesota’s great capital city, St. Paul. The State of Minnesota offers employees a subsidy for public transportation allowing for convenient and easy access to commute to work. Ride the new METRO “Green Line” Light Rail Train to work! The 10th Street Station is located close by.
These positions will develop, deliver, implement and maintain health care training related to policy, procedures, and the eligibility systems currently used by the Department of Human Services (DHS) for health care. The incumbent will work alone or as a team, responsible for high quality design, development, implementation and maintenance of training activities, using both technology-based and classroom methodologies, which includes instructor-led training, eLearning, virtual training and job aids. Included in these duties will be serving as a training consultant for Health Care Eligibility and Access (HCEA) staff and administration in identifying, developing, and evaluating HCEA training initiatives. Incumbents will participate on projects to develop training to support policy, procedures and systems related to Minnesota Health Care Programs and maintain current training programs. These positions will ensure agency and division procedures, methods, and standards related to web environments, graphics and accessibility, including ADA/508/W3C, are applied in developing and maintaining all learning materials.
Minimum Qualifications:
Preferred Qualifications:
HOW TO APPLY:
All interested candidates must officially apply online through the State of Minnesota Careers website.
(NOTE: the classification for this position is State Program Administrator Senior)
For assistance with this process, contact the Website Helpdesk at 651-259-3637 or careers@state.mn.us. Please be sure to apply at your earliest convenience before the posting closes at MIDNIGHT on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016.
If you have questions, please contact:
Pam Hughes, Recruiter
Phone: 651-431-3281
Email: Pamela.Hughes@state.mn.us
Our mission as an employer is to actively recruit, welcome and support a workforce, which is diverse and inclusive of people who are underrepresented in the development of state policies, programs and practices, so that we can support the success and growth of all people who call Minnesota home.
Hello IDL SIG Members,
Yesterday we received exciting news: our IDL Progression proposed for the 2016 STC Summit has been approved!
Now we need proposals from our members to fill four session slots within that progression. The timeline is very short – we must submit our lineup early next week.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PRESENT A PROGRESSION TOPIC AT THE SUMMIT, WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
Please respond ASAP by email to manager@stcidlsig.org with as much of the following information as possible:
Progressions are 20-minute small-group sessions with attendees able to switch and select two sessions (out of five choices) during a 45 minute time slot. These are quick and good for discussions, problem solving, and quick case studies (as examples). Generally the presenters also have handouts with quick tips or supporting material (to summarize the big points). Flipcharts are provided for progression sessions; projectors are not.
Don’t wait – let us hear from you right away. If you have questions or aren’t sure about your topic, please write to Manager@stcidlcig.org and ask us!
Our 2015 Summit Progression was a great success, so let’s do it again.
Happy Holidays,
Robert Hershenow and Mellissa Ruryk
IDL SIG Co-Managers
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.)
Please join the STC Instructional Design and Learning SIG for our first ever Virtual Progression – a new adventure in delivering bite-sized learning to our members and other interested attendees at a time and place that suits you.
Register on Eventbrite and plan to join us on December 12th.
What is a virtual progression?
A regular in-person progression lets you pick two or three of a number of simultaneous sessions and you have to miss the other “x” number of sessions. If you have attended the STC Summit you also know that these sessions are not recorded so once they have happened, they are history. Our virtual progression offers an advantage over this model, because if you attend one session or two sessions in the “progression” you will receive links to recordings for all four sessions.
How does it work?
We will have two presentations happening simultaneously, followed by a second set of two presentations. Instead of asking our presenters to repeat themselves, these sessions will only occur once… but again, even if you attend only one, you can listen to all four!
We recognize it’s a busy time of the year, so this will be short and sweet; over the holiday period, you’ll have lots of time to catch the other recordings.
The schedule starts at 10:30 AM Pacific (11:30 AM Mountain, 12:30 PM Central, 1:30 PM Eastern) – log on a few minutes early so we can start on time. When you register, pick one of the two EARLY options and one of the two LATER options. Each session will last 20-25 minutes with time for Q&A afterwards.
The second session starts at 11:15 AM Pacific (12:15 PM Mountain, 1:15 PM Central, 2:15 PM Eastern)
Sessions are FREE for IDL SIG Members; $10 per session for non-SIG STC members; $15 per session for non-STC members. (Remember, it’s only $10 to join the SIG if you are already an STC member… what a great time to join our SIG!)
This is a presentation suited for beginning technical writers or more advanced ones who keep getting stumped by Word’s idiosyncrasies. We can almost guarantee everyone will learn at least one thing about Word, no matter how long you’ve been using it. Mellissa is co-manager of the IDL SIG and has worked with Word since version 3.0 (and before that she was a Wordperfect maven. At plenty-nine, she’s been around for a while!).
You might have recorded audio before for some of your training videos and been a bit disappointed in how you sounded. Or, you’ve never recorded before but want to learn tips so you know what to do right, from the very start. Robert can help you! Robert is co-manager of the IDL SIG and learned his audio chops as a radio engineer, recording studio owner and musician – including appearances as one of the Rough Drafts (at the STC Summit 2013 and 2014).
You’ve heard about the Mentor Board before but think it doesn’t have much to do with you. In fact, the Mentor Board won’t function without you, and it’s one of those cases (again) where you get back way more than what you put in. Mentoring is a way to grow – not just the next gen of technical communicators but also yourself. (Ever heard the adage that you don’t really know something until you can teach it to someone else?) In addition, others have already registered as mentors and you can gain more than you can imagine when you connect as a mentee (one who is mentored). Either way, listen to Scott as he tells you the whys and wherefores. Scott is the Mentoring team lead for the SIG.
Here is the quick’n’dirty guide to becoming published in (or at least, increasing the odds of contributing to) STC’s BoK: our storehouse of knowledge of all things Tech Comm). He is going to cover what you need to know to get started, and where you can learn more. Robert is a member of the Technical Communication Body of Knowledge (TCBOK) task force.
Register now and bring a friend – there will be lots of room for everyone. One lucky registrant, drawn at random, will win a $25 AMAZON gift certificate simply for registering and attending. See you there!
Register on Eventbrite and plan to join us on December 12th.
