C. W. Fowler

Uninfluential AI

For this course the use of AI didn’t influence my approach to graded work in the course beyond using AI assignments that required its use. Even though the assignment criteria permitted the use of AI tools for certain activities, I opted not to use it, not even for revision. I think that part of the reason I opted not to use AI tools outside of where it was required is because I enjoy designing content at every stage of the content and because I’m still new to the technology. Over time as I get more practice and the technology becomes more refined, I think I would be more willing to incorporate the technology into my content creation activities.

Though I opted not to use AI beyond assignments that required its use, I see the value of such technology being used in industry because it has the potential to save time on content creation activities. I’m not opposed to learning more about AI and using it as a tool in the right setting. For the purposes of this course, I enjoyed creating my own content more than incorporating AI into the process.

Material Impact

In this course I think the materials that had the greatest impact on my career goals are the peer reviews associated with some assignments, learning more about AI writing tools, and evaluating style guides for a client.

These materials challenged my critical thinking skills and made them stronger. When writing peer reviews of colleagues writing, I gained experience in providing feedback to help them become better writers and I gained experience observing the different ways that tone of voice can be applied to a piece of content. Being able to distinguish tone in different pieces of content is a crucial skill for technical communicators as it allows them to create content tailored to specific audiences. A peer review is a good way to evaluate whether a piece of content will reach the audience without potentially offending them and to check for alignment with the designated style guide.

AI will inevitably be incorporated into technical communication as a time saving tool for technical communicators. Being at the forefront of this technology allows for a smoother transition into industry in the short term and sets the stage for future job security by already being familiar with the use of AI.

Evaluating style guides is another critical skill for technical communicators. In the case of organizations that already have a style guide, knowing how to evaluate style guides allows technical communicators to provide recommendations for a style guide that could better align with the organization’s goals for content as the audience changes over time. In the case of organizations that are either just starting out or those that have yet to decide on a style guide, this allows technical communicators to provide valuable insight that will help the organization create a specific brand identity as it applies to their content.

Course Guidance

The first thing that I would do when guiding a new student taking this course is to think about what field of technical communication, they want to establish a career. Knowing what their career goals are will allow me to better guide them through the course and better explain concepts covered relevant to their career goals. Without knowing what their career (or education) goals are, I don’t think I can effectively guide them through the course. This is one thing that I think is important to succeed in the course; establishing career goals to better apply course concepts.

The most important thing to succeed is to practice applying the concepts. In my experience this is the most effective way to learn. Practical application of concepts for this course, or any course for that matter, fosters growth as a student and as a professional by learning a little more to refine writing skills as it applies to technical communication.

The most important thing to avoid when taking this course is to give up and not try. Learning is cyclical meaning that there are multiple stages in the learning process that are necessary to repeat to learn any new concept, including failure. We may not get it right every time and that’s okay. The best thing to do is to learn from any failure and try again. No instructor worth their salt will allow a student fail if the effort to learn is there and improvement is seen. The bottom-line is don’t be afraid to try and to fail, it only makes you stronger.

Looking Forward

I’m almost halfway through completing my master’s degree. As I continue my journey learning about technical communication, I’m starting to identify potential future employers and intend to apply to some of them. My main focus right now is developing my skills as a writer to help me stand out amongst the crowd. I’m confident that I’m well on my way to starting a new career as a technical communicator.

In addition to career opportunities, I’m exploring doctoral program options as a next step in my career and educational goals. Right now, I want to continue my education in Texas because of veteran benefits to help with the cost of tuition. The program that I’m looking at is at Texas Tech University. There is still more to evaluate on this but at the moment I’m leaning toward the program that Texas Tech offers.

Plainly Speaking

Plain language is a valuable tool to help writers create content that helps readers understand complex ideas. Using this tool effectively means that a writer is creating content from the reader’s view point to try to answer any questions readers might have. Plain language helps with readability of content. So why isn’t plain language used all the time to create content? My view is that if a reader can quickly find the information they need, they are more likely to buy the product or service that my organization offers. But adopting the concepts plain language is still a new (but growing) phenomenon instead of a part of everyday content creation.

Progress has been made in adopting plain language concepts by organizations around the world. According to Leslie O’Flahavan, plain language became federal law in the United States, at least for government agencies, in 2010. Though we don’t hear about plain language being used, outside of aircraft maintenance, I’m sure that plain language has been incorporated into our daily lives through advertisements and instructional guides. Both examples have a purpose and often times have limited space to accomplish that purpose. Using plain language helps to relay a message in the simplest terms possible which could reasonably save space. Likewise using plain language for these purposes can leave a good impression on customers and clients which leads to new and repeat customers.

One thing that surprised me is how varied readability tests are. Using the readability test software by Datayze showed how unreliable readability tests are because each test type uses different scoring mechanisms. One document may score as readable by fourth or fifth graders on one test while the same document may score as readable at a college level on a different test. It seems that each readability test creator focused on broadly applying their own research results, taken from a narrow subset of people, rather than actually trying to make writings easier to read.

Having little experience in creating content using the concepts of plain language, I can see how plain language is a useful communication tool. As such I would love to practice using plain language more often.

Tone of Voice

A key component of the content that an organization or individual creates is the tone of voice that content presents. Using the right tone at the right time is important to how an organization presents itself through content. When choosing a tone, context matters especially in business because tone is a key component of brand voice and brand identity. Tone sets the stage for how customers and clients see an organization. While an organization may use a specific tone for their brand voice, the context of the content matters. I wouldn’t use a funny tone while telling a client that their data had been breached. A funny tone is highly inappropriate in that context but could be appropriate for creating an advertisement.

Prior to taking this class, I had some understanding of what tone is but not really a whole lot. I didn’t really understand that by changing the wording, punctuation, or sentence formation that a content creator could change the tone. I had no concept of the four dimensions of tone and to be honest I still don’t fully grasp the concept. I’m sure that with practice I will have a better understanding of these concepts and I’m excited to learn more.

Looking Forward

Over the last two modules we have covered a lot of concepts that are new to me. The instructional material definitely created a few new wrinkles on my brain. Though I’m still new to the concepts of plain language and tone of voice, I can see the benefit of learning to use them in my own writing. Using plain language will make the content that I create easier for my readers to understand. Likewise, knowing how to use tone to create a positive perception of my organization or my own personal content makes me a stronger writer.

Since I’m pursuing a career in content development, management and strategy, understanding the concepts of plain language and tone and how to apply them effectively, are critical skills to have. I’m excited to develop these skills and potentially stand out amongst the crowd when applying for positions with an organization.

Guiding Style

As I’ve stated in previous blog posts, content is everywhere. From independent creators on social media platforms to businesses trying to sell a product or service, we are inundated with varied forms of content. Content is a highly valuable business asset as it reflects the content creator’s brand, or their employer’s brand if not an independent creator. As such, it’s very important to define exactly how content will appear to maintain consistency and adherence to the brand voice. Content style guides do just that.

This week I evaluated two different style guides to make a recommendation for which of the two best aligned with the core values and content goals for an organization. The process of evaluating the two guides was most definitely an experience. I’ve heard of style guides and seen references to their use but never really looked at one in detail. Let’s face it, to this point I really didn’t have a need to look at a style guide beyond citing sources in either APA or MLA format. That being said I’m glad that I had the opportunity to evaluate two out of the multitude of style guides out there to gain a better understanding of how to design consistent content that aligns with both my personal brand and with the brand of any organization that I work for in the future. Even for my own personal content, I’m considering using the style guide created by Mailchimp because it is designed to be adaptable.

Levelling Language

As I understand it, content style guides are meant to guide content creators in the effective use of language to make content much easier to digest and to align with brand voice; the combination of voice and tone applied to an organization or independent creator. A key part of style guides is defining at what level of language content creators should focus on. The style guides that I had the opportunity to review did this quite well. Yet they didn’t mention language level anywhere in their style guides. So how did the style guides communicate at which level of language to focus on?

There was no mention of language levels in either of the style guides that I had the opportunity to review. The way that each style guide accomplished communicating language levels was in the specific examples provided in the guide. The examples I observed demonstrated what and what not to do by showing example sentences of each. This communicated the language level without ever saying the words. To actually know what level of language each guide focused on, I had to review the examples in a class handout as well as watch the lecture. I admit I still have a basic grasp of the concept, but I’m willing to dive deeper into this topic because it serves to make me a stronger writer.

Understanding levels of language fosters strengthening critical thinking skills. Thinking critically about the lexical choices I make for my content helps me to convey my intended message to my intended audience. Words and sentences that are acceptable in one context may be taboo or downright unacceptable in another. I wouldn’t structure a sentence meant for an engineer the same way I would for a mechanic or technician. I wouldn’t call a sweetened carbonate beverage a coke in the Midwest (pop country). Knowing which level of language to apply only serves to make communication clearer.

Looking Forward

I’m working toward a career focused on content from development to management to strategy. Understanding voice, tone, and style are key skills needed for this career field. Prior to starting my journey in technical communication, I knew nothing about voice and tone as a part of style in writing. Through this course and through prior coursework I’m starting to grasp the importance of voice and tone for content. I look forward to strengthening these skills and becoming a much better technical communicator and content creator.

Content Strategy is Business Strategy

The most important thing for someone learning about content strategy should do is to learn at least a little bit about business value. Content is a valuable business asset for any organization because it has the potential to draw in new customers and to retain loyal customers. An organization has a lot of content that adds value to their product or service.

In the module 1 lecture video, a hypothetical business was presented with examples of how profit is earned by selling products. There are several ways that a company increases profit by selling a product or by providing a service. Prime examples include selling a product or providing a service, reducing operating costs, and/or creating a great customer experience. Any one or any combination of these can be used to increase an organization’s profit. Each of the actions described can be used as part of a strategy to increase profitability.

Tying business value to content strategy, a person must understand that to develop an effective content strategy, they must frame content as something that increases the profitability of the organization. Viewing content from a business lens, enables a person to make better recommendations to decision-makers about the best way to leverage content as a high value business asset. This is what makes content strategy a specialized form of management consulting.

Auditors not Editors

What comes to mind for this question is to remember that when learning about content strategy, content strategists don’t edit content. The whole premise of a content strategy project is to assess where an organization is in relation to where they want to be with their content and to develop a roadmap that will help an organization close the gap.

While auditing my client’s content, I was tempted to recommend a number of changes to the wording of their content, or ways that their content could be structured better. That’s part of the reason when my team submitted the draft spreadsheet, some of my feedback was way too long and wordy. I had to take a break from it and remove some of the recommendations because I was not “hired” to edit their content. I was “hired” to assess a sample of my client’s content, then provide recommendations for closing the gap. Ultimately, I included generic editing recommendations in the additional feedback section but not specific language or structural changes. If an edit was needed that would prevent closing the gap between current and future states of the client’s content, I did mention those in my feedback and recommendations. However, I didn’t go beyond grammatical edits that were customer facing. I refocused on actions that would improve the content to close the gap and to provide a strategy to leverage content as the high value business asset that it is.

Career and Academic Potential

As I journeyed through this course, I gained a deeper appreciation for content management and for content strategy. I really enjoyed working on the project because it was like a puzzle to be solved or like a code to be cracked that once solved would contribute to my client’s future success. For me, this course built on the digital literacies course that I took last semester and presented me with a career path in technical communication that I could see myself doing.

Along with an industry career path, I see a path to further education around content strategy. Content strategy is still a burgeoning field and as such there is still a lot to learn in order to advance content strategy in industry. I’m currently contemplating how I can eventually complete a Ph.D. around content strategy, though I realize that I have to earn my master’s first. That being said, I would like to learn more about content strategy as a specialized form of management consulting and plan to seek our more information about it between semesters and after graduation.

What helped me to see the possibilities of content strategy as a viable career field was the industry application of the concepts and practices of content strategy by working with an actual client. During the team project I saw the actual value of what I was doing to help a business assess their content by providing information that they could use to leverage their content to achieve their goals. For the individual project, I can see how my recommendations actually provide a path forward for my client to close the gap between the states of their content and potentially increase their profitability.

AI as a Tool for Tech Comm

In module 6 of the course, we were presented with a video demonstrating an AI platform called ChatGPT and its application to technical communication. In the video, Amruta Ranade demonstrated how ChatGPT could be used for research and draft writing. She pondered the idea of ChatGPT and perhaps other AI platforms replacing technical writers or at least changing how technical writers work.

I really don’t know much about AI platforms. I tried ChatGPT after the watching the video just to see how it works and I can see the potential for it’s use as a tool but not a replacement for technical writers. Seeing the potential in AI platforms such as ChatGPT indicates that this and other AI platforms should be investigated, not only for functionality as a tool, but in the ethics of using AI in academic and professional settings. Like content strategy, AI is a burgeoning field. There is still so much unknown about what it can do and the ethical implications provided by AI. I have no doubt that eventually AI will become an integral part of what tech comm professionals do in their careers. That is why the research must be done now to determine the ethics of using AI in content creation and what acceptable use looks like in practice. I am intrigued by AI platforms as a tool and would like to learn more about them. However, I don’t yet know enough to determine what is or what isn’t ethical when it comes to AI.

Hard but Rewarding Work

The opportunity to help a client achieve their business objectives and goals related to the content that they produce is hard but rewarding work. Knowing that you are directly contributing to an organization’s success creates a sense of personal success.

As I have journeyed through my content strategies course, I have learned how to perform needs and gap analyses and to assess content provided by a client part of a group project. Developing the deliverables for the group project was challenging. However, my teammate and I are confident that we provided valuable insight into the state of their content. That is the reward for our hard work on the project. Now we are moving on to the individual project phase of developing a content strategy roadmap expanding on the work we did as a group.

Leveraging Content for Profitability

One of the recurring themes in my content strategies course is that content is a business asset for organizations today. Properly leveraging content contributes directly to an organization’s profitability. Yet, as I understand it from course materials, there is a disconnect between the content an organization produces and how it is a business asset. There is a major focus on marketing content and less focus on other content such as user guides, customer support documentation, product tutorials and the like. This is understandable given that the connection between marketing specific content and profitability is obvious to decision-makers; marketing content by design draws in customers to buy products and/or services. This is where a content strategist comes in.

In my content strategies course, we discussed content strategy as a specialized form of management consulting. I understand this to mean that where management consultants analyze business practices to provide a path forward for increased productivity at an organization, content strategists analyze an organization’s content to provide a path forward to leverage content for increased profitability.

Management Consultants at Work

My personal experience with management consulting involves one of my recent employers. To resolve productivity issues, a management consulting firm was hired to evaluate our processes and provide a roadmap to close the gap between where our productivity was and where our leadership wanted it to be. For months consultants from this firm followed first level leadership (my direct supervisor, associate managers, and managers) to identify gaps in knowledge, best practices, and processes. At the level I was at, I didn’t have access to their analyses or recommendations. However, I experienced changes that were made as a result. Likewise, I’m unaware if a content audit of was part of their analysis, but I doubt that it was.

Based on that experience, and taking content strategies, I see parallels between management consulting and content strategy. Each field works toward the same goal, increased profitability for their client, but take different approaches to achieve that goal. Taking content strategies provided a new perspective for what the management consultants were doing and how I can do the same by specializing in content strategy.

Tools of the Trade

As with any industry there are tools and skills needed to do the job of a technical communicator. Over time these tools and skills change. For example, AI is becoming a prominent aspiration for organizations that want to streamline and automate their processes. I found it fascinating that ChatGPT, though still in the research trial phase, looks to be a promising tool to assist technical communicators in their work, especially as it applies to research and drafting.

Even though research and draft writing could be automated using AI platforms such as ChatGPT, technical communicators would still have to vet the results of research and draft writing. At the moment the role of technical communicators doesn’t appear to be fully automatable, but wise professionals will stay abreast of technological advancements and work to develop the necessary skills to stay relevant in the field and avoid obsoletion. The moral technical communicators adapt and overcome just like the US Marines.

Looking Forward

As I work on a content strategy roadmap for my client’s content, I realize that I am leveraging previous experience and new knowledge on the way to a new career. Likewise, I am still only at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to content strategy. As such, I am willing and eager to learn more about this field and have tentative plans to pursue content strategy as a career. There is still so much to discover about this burgeoning field of technical communication. The fact that there is so much still to discover makes content strategy a viable career path for technical communicators. From my perspective the fact that this is still a relatively new field positions me to be a pioneer in content strategy as I look forward to starting my career as a technical communicator.

 

Content: A Reusable Business Asset

Content is everywhere; in ad campaigns, in user guides, in work instructions for a product build, even in internal training materials for a business. Everywhere we look, we are bombarded with some form of content trying to sell us something or teach us a process or even shape our opinion about a topic. This content obviously works for its intended purpose, otherwise businesses would find different ways to reach their respective audiences. The fact that all of this content works makes it a highly valuable business asset, meaning that the content adds value to the bottom line of businesses’ balance sheets. Imagine now that such content is reused across multiple platforms and on multiple channels. Such content just reached a broader audience which will most likely increase revenue even more.

Content reach isn’t the only way that content reuse creates a highly valuable business asset. Content that can be and is reused can add to increased revenue in the form of cost savings in time, material, and/or labor. Instead of creating brand new content for every use case, reusing the same (or similar) content for multiple purposes reduces the time needed to publish the content, reduces the materials needed to create the content, and reduces the cost of labor needed to create and publish the content. Benjamin Franklin said it best when he said “a penny saved is a penny earned.”

From my perspective, especially in this day and age, content is the most valuable asset that businesses have. Reusability only increases the value of content assets.

Content Strategy: Management Consulting

Every asset that is managed properly can be a value add for a business. Nothing can be managed without a good, well-thought-out strategy. Content as a business asset is no different.

Leaders at various levels of a business develop different strategies to optimize their business and increase profits. However, in some cases such leaders get stuck and need to reach out for help, sometimes to an outside source; a management consultancy firm or agency. A management consultancy firm can be called in when there is an issue with efficiency or to resolve a series of constraints in process or for a project. Foundational to management consulting are conducting a Needs Analysis and a Gap Analysis to identify any necessary changes a business must make to reach their defined goals and the space between where a business is currently and where a business wants to be in reaching their goals; what is the gap (O’Keefe, Pringle, & Swallow, 2019).

So, how does management consulting apply to content? Content strategy is becoming more and more recognized as a specialty within management consulting as a field (O’Keefe, Pringle, & Swallow, 2019). The same processes are deployed to identify changes a business must make regarding content management and development to achieve desired goals and the gap between the current state of content and the desired state of content relating to business goals. Developing a good content strategy is the difference between content increasing revenue and content being a bottomless money-pit. The whole practice is about strategically leveraging business assets to drive increased profits for the business or even shareholders of publicly traded companies.

No matter the industry, a business’ number one goal is to turn a profit. A strong business strategy typically leads to increased profitability. Since content is the most valuable business asset that a business has in this day and age, developing a strong content strategy will lead to the same result as a strong business strategy.

Content Strategy as a Career

Since taking a course on digital literacies last semester, I have been excited by the prospect of entering content management as a career. My understanding of content management includes content development/writing and content strategy as subfields within content management. As I work through the project for this course, I’m even more interested in content management as a career field. I truly enjoy solving the puzzle that content management is in a way that helps a client achieve their goals. As it stands right now, I may not know enough about content strategy to jump straight into it as a career, but I am willing and eager to learn the skills it takes to be a professional content strategist in the future.

References

O’Keefe, Sarah, Pringle, Alan, & Swallow, Bill. (2019). Understanding Content Strategy as a Specialized Form of Management Consulting Download Understanding Content Strategy as a Specialized Form of Management Consulting (PDF) from Scriptorium and also Technical Communication, 66(2).

Introduction

Over the past couple of weeks in the course we have learned about the discovery process of a content assessment, specifically planning out the project. The focus of this week is starting work on the project. Thanks to our client we have enough information to get going, such as what our client’s goals are for the content and which KPIs they use in determining the success of their content. This project is starting to take form now.

Know What You Got

The lecture provided for module 3 was very informative and described very well where we should start our project. Creating a content inventory for the client provided content is a crucial first step in a content assessment. In order to determine the direction that the content should go, we first have to understand what is there in terms of descriptive, quantitative, and qualitative data characteristics. Understanding this type of data about content provides key insights into how well the content is working to achieve company goals or targets, typically something to do with increased revenue or profits, which in turn identifies opportunities for improvement and redirection as necessary.

KPIs

Based on information in the lecture, my understanding of what a KPI or Key Performance Indicator is, has grown. Having spent about 15 years of my life in the retail industry, I’ve heard KPIs tossed around quite a bit in the offices and even some in our huddle meetings on the store floor and on the weekly conference call. In my current role in manufacturing, I’ve seen KPI in some of the documentation and have overheard parts of a managers’ meeting discussing KPI, though never in detail. I keep seeing and hearing the term in multiple industries and across different lines of business and never fully understood what they are. At some level I knew that it had to do with very important performance data, but I was never exposed to the term nor the idea behind the term enough to develop any sort of real understanding.

The way that I understand it is that KPIs or Key Performance Indicators are metrics that measure whether or not an organization is on track to reach their target goals whether it be increased product market share or more effective content. Knowing this information is highly valuable to an organization as it can connect directly to an organization’s bottom line; if the content isn’t measuring up to established KPIs that align with established goals, a shortfall in revenue or profits could result. Knowing how content is helping an organization achieve its goals or if it’s hampering them, can lead to better business decisions. Because content can have significant impact on the bottom line, all content owned by an organization is a business asset to some degree.

Project Management

During project planning in the discovery phase of our project, we started deciding how our project will flow and which team member is responsible for what. Using Trello(R), my team and I broke down each deliverable into tasks and subtasks to better manage the workload of the project. Just using Trello to create a Kanban Board is a highly marketable skill in industry because it shows that I know how to use project management tools or can learn them.

I definitely intend to keep using Trello to manage other personal and professional projects. If for no other reason than to gain more experience with the functionality of the tool.

Looking Forward

I am really excited about having the opportunity to gain industry level experience in content management and content strategy. I am enjoying learning about content and can see myself in a content management role for an organization. I really think that I found my happy place within technical communication.

A New Journey Begins

Last year in the digital literacies course, I had the pleasure to learn a little bit about content management and topic-based authoring among other things. Now that the new year is in and the spring semester has started, I find myself excited to start a new journey learning more about content management and content strategy.

The premise of this course is to focus on content as a business asset, something that never really occurred to me before, at least not consciously. It makes a lot of sense, given the digital world we live in, that content is a business asset. This signals to me that the content that I have been exposed to, mostly marketing content, is working as intended; the overall message leading me to consider or even purchase a product thus creating revenue for the company.

As I move through the course over the next few weeks, I look forward to developing the skills needed to start a career in content management and content strategy.

Project Management

As stated above, the focus of this course is on content as a business asset. In my varied work experience, whenever dealing with a business asset such as a product, service, or process, a project management system or strategy is used at every stage of the asset lifecycle. It makes sense that a project of the scope that we will be working on will follow a project management system to ensure timely delivery of our final product, a content strategy recommendation for our client.

I am vaguely familiar with the Agile project management type and some of what it entails. I look forward to developing skills in project management as we work through our Kanban board and/or work breakdown structure (WBS). Even with the limited knowledge that I have gained so far on project management, I am looking at my current job through a slightly different lens which helps me better understand my work environment.

Teamwork A Tradition

While I was on the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), our motto stitched on the back of our command ballcap was “Teamwork a Tradition.” In everything that we did we worked as a team to make sure that the mission was a success. Technical communication is no different. As with other tech comm courses that I have taken, this course has teamwork built in as an integral part of the coursework.

So far, my team has only created a team charter outlining our mutual expectations for how our content strategy project is going to flow. Knowing team expectations is a crucial part of any team project. We have a plan to make sure that this project is a huge success, and have been discussing what to do about our Kanban board and plan to use Trello as our platform for project management.

Career Path in Sight

When I started my master’s in professional and technical communication, I wasn’t sure which route I wanted to take for my new career. There were several options that I was considering, including web design and technical writing. I didn’t know enough about content management or content strategy at the time to even consider it as a potential career path. My perspective changed thanks to my experience with digital literacies and now I’ve narrowed my potential career paths to content management and instructional design. At this point in my journey, I’m leaning more towards content management and strategy because it genuinely excites me. From my perspective, content management is like putting a puzzle together; you start with a thousand scrambled pieces and end with a clear picture.

In addition to choosing a new career field, I’m exploring options for my next educational journey. While completing my undergraduate studies, I decided that I wanted to pursue my doctorate eventually though at the time I didn’t know in what exactly. Given that my undergraduate degree is in geography my masters will be in tech comm, there might be an opportunity to connect the two fields. I will spend more time exploring my options for my next educational journey and will reach out for advice when I’m ready to take the next leap. For now, I’m excited to break into the field of content management and content strategy.

Overview

Throughout the 8-week term, there were a lot of assignments to complete. As part of the course assignments, we were asked to choose one focus area based on the results of a survey in Module 1 regarding self-regulated learning (SRL). My focus area was creating a strategy for planning.

Recap

In my first blog post I outlined a plan to use a calendar app as part of my strategy. I reported in my second blog post that I failed to effectively use my calendar app as part of my strategy but that I was going to give it my strategy another shot. In this third and final blog post of the term I will report on how well my strategy worked in the second half of the term.

Adapted

During the second half of the term, I had a lot going on between work, school, and home. Add on top of that grad school. My schedule was packed.

As such, I wasn’t able to effectively employ my calendar app in the second half of the term either. However, I did find another strategy for planning that worked well and I had been doing it without even thinking about it. For each assignment I put the due dates on my calendar app so that I could keep track of when they were due. To actually plan out the coursework for each assignment, I wrote down what I had coming up and what my daily goals for completing each assignment were. Where my original strategy was ineffective, I adapted and implemented another strategy for staying on task and completing my work and I did so without even realizing that was what I was doing.

Writing out my daily goals for completing assignments is the winning strategy for the second half of the term.

Self-Regulated Learning

Going through this course using self-regulated learning was a good experience and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to do so. With realistic projects similar to what I would find industry I understand that as a technical communicator I will have to employ a strategy for self-regulated learning to be successful. There is always going to be an assignment or thirty that I will have to keep track of and with topics that I will have to learn about. That is the nature of what we do as technical communicators.

As I matriculate through the Master’s program, I have the prime opportunity to practice different strategies for self-regulated learning before I go into industry.

Looking Forward

I really enjoyed taking this class. The opportunity to gain familiarity with some of the tools that I will use in industry was challenging at times but was a good experience despite the challenge.

I found out that I like content management, at least the part that we covered in this course. Using Flare for the single-source publishing project for me was like putting a puzzle together. Each piece or component had to be put in place before the full picture started to take shape. I really look forward to the content strategy course I’m taking this coming spring semester.

The screencasting project was a lot of fun to make despite having some things to fix before I put the video on my permanent portfolio. I enjoyed putting together a quick start guide for WordPress.

Looking forward, I know that there are some things that I need to work on such a strategy for planning among other aspects of self-regulated learning especially once I’m closer to entering industry. The time to practice is now while I have the benefit of being a student and receiving feedback to improve. As I continue my journey, I will continue to work on self-regulated learning so that I am ready for industry and for further graduate studies. No matter the situation I can adapt and find a way to make it work.

Results

In my previous blog post, I made a strategy for planning my assignments for the single source project. To keep track of assignments I used the calendar app on my mobile device. The result is that this strategy worked…sort of. The way that I approached this strategy was to put the major assignments due each week as an ‘all-day’ event on the date that the assignment is due with the time due as part of the assignment title. This way I know when all my assignments are due and can plan accordingly. That is the key part, plan accordingly. That is the part of my strategy that did not pan out the way that I wanted it to. Instead of assigning a time slot each day to work on my assignments I reverted to my old habits of “winging it” so to speak. I knew when the assignments were due, and I worked on them each week, but the use of my calendar did not help because I used this tool ineffectively to claim total success in planning.

A Different Method of Planning

Though I did not use my calendar effectively, I did work on assignments each week and kept track of them in a different way. The single source project is a group project which involves collaborating with group members to ensure that each part of the project is complete. Using scheduled team meetings and staying in contact using Microsoft Teams (Teams) helped me to keep on track with my assignments and forced me to work on them after work each day. In a professional setting this method would not work as a primary method of keeping track of projects but can be a useful tool to supplement more effective primary tools such as calendar apps, project management software such as Atlassian’s Trello or Jira, and even the old school paper day planner. In this instance, using Teams communications and team meetings worked only because others were counting on me to pull my weight in the single source project. This method by itself is ineffective for planning. That being said, this method can be used in conjunction with better tools designed specifically for planning a project out. Most importantly it requires personal accountability to follow through with a strategy. If the strategy does not work after putting serious effort into it, then it is okay to develop a new strategy. The proverbial old college try is insufficient.

Looking Forward

As the second 8-week term comes to a close, and having higher scores for the other three categories, it is in my best interest to continue working on a strategy for planning. With the remaining three weeks that we have in this term, I will try to use the calendar method more effectively by assigning time slots each week for the remaining projects as well as the project due dates. The next few weeks will be extremely busy for me academically and personally. Following through with a strategy for planning is absolutely crucial to my success in everything that I have going on right now.