Blog 08 – Week 10
We are now nearing the end of the second semester and our final assignment submissions are just around the corner. This post will also be the last blog post as part of EL6082 (Learning and Collaboration Technologies).
This year has been all about new experiences and the learning curve has been tremendous. Students were given the option to complete the master’s course (M. A. in Technical Communication and E-Learning) using the full-time or part-time options. I took the full-time option as I wanted to get back into the workforce as quickly as possible.
The master’s programme has equipped me with the relevant skills and knowledge required to become a successful technical communicator and instructional designer. Over the two semesters, we had lectures, both on-campus and online. Lectures were combined with peer group discussions and activities, webinars from industry experts and professionals, Panopto videos, online chats and discussions, podcasts, and other resources using the university’s virtual learning environment, Sulis.
Modules such as TW5211 (Principles of Professional and Technical Communication and Information Design), EL6072 (Interactive Courseware Workshop), and RM6011 (Research Methodology in Applied Language Studies) have helped in developing my research and content development skills.
Through various learning models (ADDIE, Bloom’s Learning Taxonomy, and Kirkpatrick’s Levels of Training Evaluations) I was able to understand how people best learn and how to develop the right type of content for a specific audience.
We were assigned various tasks throughout the course. The ones I enjoyed the most were creating a podcast and a digital learning resource. I used tools such as audacity and articulate storyline 360 to develop the content, respectively. I had used the same topic, ‘How to Conduct User Interviews’, for both assignments. This helped me in strengthening my creativity as I was able to reuse the same content but develop different outputs for each assignment, respectively.
One of the most valuable things I learned is to be a smart worker and one that can execute time management successfully. This allows you to complete your assignments quickly so that you have enough time to review your work, and when you review your work, you can find areas to add more value and can deliver high-quality content.
If given a chance to do something different in this course or a future course for that matter, I would choose a course that allows more face-to-face classroom interaction rather than online interaction. This is obviously not the university’s first choice, but due to the impact of Covid 19. I believe the university did its best to tackle Covid and still be able to deliver the course content every week. However, that being said, I still believe there is more genuine interaction and communication between the lecturers and students, and it just helps you connect better with people. After all, man is a social animal.
The main reason I chose to take up this course was to add the relevant educational background to my resume. Now after having more than two and a half years of work experience and having this degree I believe would be a highly competent candidate for the role of a technical writer or instructional designer. I am certain that this course will help me in my career development and in achieving my career goals.
I now look forward to showcasing the new skills that I have developed. On to the next chapter, sláinte!
The Nischay Joseph Experience 