Mike Mandel predicts that a broadly defined communication market will be a leader in job growth:

Broadly speaking,  the communications sector, broadly defined,  seems to be recovering before the rest of the economy.  This may be telling us something about the shape of the coming recovery.

I’m going to put myself out on a limb here. I think that this coming recovery will be driven by a communications boom, including a media boom.  This includes everything from Google, to Apple, to Facebook, to mobile payment, to health-related applications, to my new company Visible Economy LLC  (I am putting my money where my mouth is!)

That suggests we may have a two-track economy for a while. Communications and related areas may have good times, adding jobs and growing. But the rest of economy may bounce along the bottom for a while, especially if  local and state governments have to start tightening their belts several notches.

See the original article here.  Thanks to Cortland Bovee for posting this news item alert.

A QA Model for eLearning

In this video, I introduce a model for assessing and assuring quality in online learning. The NJIT Model for Quality Assurance in eLearning began with a need to understand if our MS in Professional and Technical Communication (MSPTC) was actually meeting the needs of our students. Our graduate student, Phoebe DelBoccio, evaluated all of the five core MSPTC courses, using a nationally recognized system, to find that our courses met the quality expectations of all essential criteria. We have adapted the system and created our own model specific to NJIT.

Each semester, in the courses I teach, I ask for feedback mid-semester so that I may adjust my teaching as needed and then at the end of the semester when students have had time to reflect. These public reports are in addition to the anonymous, confidential student evaluations that students complete for NJIT.

Below are two kinds of comments for the course that I teach every semester PTC 601 Advanced Professional and Technical Communication, the foundation course for our master’s program and graduate certificate programs.  Ms. Villegas and Mr. Nuguid have given me permission to publish their posts from the course forum.

I welcome comments from students and other teachers about student feedback.

Read more…

I am very proud that STC  (Society for Technical Communication) has recognized my teaching with the prestigious Jay R. Gould Award. STC’s magazine Intercom had a nice writeup about the award. Also, NJIT News included an announcement of the award.

As I continue to study the professional skills sets required for social media, I realize that those competencies are different depending on your professional role. If you are designing social media, you need to have user-centered design skills. If you are a marketing or branding professional, you may not be creating social media as much as you are researching and monitoring media to understand how your product or brand is perceived by your market. This became clearer as I watched a webinar produced by cymfony.com

Core Competencies in Social Media for Graduate Students in Technical Communication Program

What competencies do you think graduate students in a MS in professional and technical communication should be able to demonstrate upon graduation? This mindmap begins to structure some of the key skill sets that we have identified. What skills do you think are required in business, industry, and non-profit?

Summer 2010                      1st Session – 5/24/10 – 6/28/10

PTC 698 Designing Social Media  – Online  (Prof. Ronkowitz)

This course introduces students to social media as communication tools in business, education, non-profits and communities of interest and provides a framework for the design of social media. Through the use of case studies, exercises and assessments, students will conduct social media audits and also design viable strategies. The course will look at how organizations can use social media as communication tools for marketing, education, training and community building. Throughout the semester, students will prepare a social media strategy presentation for a client in a field of their choice.

PTC 698 is appropriate for students in communication, management, media, IT and design. The pre-requisite is waived for non-majors; contact ronkowitz@njit.edu for permission.

Professor Ken Ronkowitz is a new media specialist and prolific and popular blogger about communication, language, and technology. He directs the Writing Initiative at Passaic County Community College.

Fall 2010

PTC 610 Research Methods for Information Design — Online (Prof. Coppola)

This course introduces user research methods such as contextual inquiry, ethnographic field studies, card sorting, affinity diagramming, and usability testing that provide the foundation for user-centered design. Students will develop core competencies through case studies and exercises. The course culminates in an individualized usability project that each student designs and conducts.

Prerequisite will be waived for non-majors by contacting coppola@njit.edu for permission.

Professor Nancy Coppola directs the MS in Professional and Technical Communication at NJIT.  She is an international expert in assessment and knowledge transfer.

PTC 698 Analyzing Social Media – Online (Prof. Collins)

This course will provide students with an overview of social networks by introducing them to the unique terminology of social networks (centrality, boundary spanners, directional ties, etc.). Positive and negative characteristics of social networks will be discussed, followed by visualizations and analyses of those characteristics. Students will read selected journal articles explaining how social networks relate to communication and the flow of information within organizations. The culmination of the course will be a project in which students will create and analyze their own social network, most likely drawing their data from the popular social media site Facebook and using ORA, a freeware social network analysis application created by Carnegie Mellon University.

The CPTSC Diversity Committee requests applications for the CPTSC Graduate Student Diversity Scholarship.

This scholarship supports the goal of CPTSC to increase diversity in its membership and in technical communication. Eligible candidates include graduate students whose race, ethnicity, disability, or nationality are underrepresented in the technical communication field. The scholarship is provided to assist the recipient with expenses associated with participating in the CPTSC conference. It waives the conference fee and provides the winner a $350 scholarship from Bedford/St. Martin’s with an additional $150 supplement from CPTSC for a total of $500.

*Eligibility*
Applicants should satisfy all of the following criteria for the scholarship:
• Full or part-time graduate student enrolled in a technical communication graduate program or closely related field • Member of a racially or ethnically underrepresented group, OR a person with “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity” (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990), OR an international student from a nation that is underrepresented in the technical communication field • Member of CPTSC by the deadline for current year conference registration and attend the current year annual meeting of CPTSC to receive the scholarship

*Selection Factors*
The scholarship will be given to an eligible applicant who exhibits the most potential in the field of Technical and Scientific Communication in his or her studies and research, as determined by the Diversity Scholarship review panel.

*Deadline*
Applicants must submit an application with all attachments by May 15, 2010. The scholarship committee will notify the recipients of the scholarship by e-mail no later than June 1, 2010.

NOTE : The scholarship recipient must attend the CPTSC conference to receive the scholarship.

All application materials are to be submitted electronically to the chair of the scholarship review committee. See the attached scholarship application form and list of materials to be submitted.

Contact Jerry Savage gjsavag@ilstu.edu if you have questions regarding the scholarship or the application process.

Students in my graduate and undergraduate classes in technical communication this semester have been working with the Plain Language Guidelines.  Plain language, sponsored by the US government, promotes communication that an audience can understand the first time they read or hear it. The tenets of plain language are useful for all writers –  write for your audience, organize for readers’ needs, use active voice and short, simple sentences, etc.

Plain language also recognizes the importance of information design in improving communication:

• Use vertical lists
• Use tables to make complex material easier to understand
• Consider using illustrations
• Use emphasis to highlight important concepts
• Design your document for ease of reading

These are indeed important and practical lessons for all of us. We  know that readers who confront a large block of uninterrupted text simply won’t read it. The Onion took this commonplace to the extreme in its satirical report on Americans collectively recoiling when confronted with a solid block of uninterrupted text. It’s really funny. I hope you’ll read it.

STC Chapter at NJIT Meeting this Friday at 7

WE NEED MS.PTC STUDENTS

A teleconference will be held this Friday, February 26, 2010 for those of you who are interested in revitalizing our NJIT STC Student Chapter.

• Please join my meeting, Friday, February 26 at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time. You will be able to connect 15 minutes before hand to test the connection.

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/join/616422104

• Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) – a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.

Dial 646-558-2101

Access Code: 616-422-104

Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting

Meeting ID: 616-422-104

Scott McCoy