Technical Communication

Copyediting and Technical Communication Information Session (INFO-70166) Free | Online Are you interested in a new career as a copyeditor or technical communicator, but not sure where to begin? Explore more about these industries and the Specialized Certificate in Copyediting and/or the Professional Certificate in Technical Communication by signing up for our free online information session! It’s as easy as clicking the “Add to Cart” button below (and it’s free!). Once you have registered, you will have access to the course the next day, and you can visit this information session at any...

Basics of Technical Editing 10 weeks | Online The technical editor’s first priority is the reader; and in this course, you will learn the basics of how to be the reader’s advocate. To properly serve your readers, a technical editor must make an effort to see technical documentation from the reader’s perspective. You will work to understand a document’s purpose—why do readers need the document, and how are they going to use it—to help you with your craft. This skill also involves writing author queries and creating style sheets to communicate with authors and other editors during the editing...

Technical Communication I 10 weeks | Online This is a practical, hands-on technical writing course for all currently practicing or would-be technical communicators wishing to get a firmer grasp on this extremely broad and quickly evolving industry and develop some of the core competencies required in the profession, today. We will cover a broad range of topics, including the life-cycle communication process for project management; ethical issues facing technical communicators; organizational and genre-appropriate design; plain language and global audience guidelines for today’s technical...

Writing Online Documentation 10 weeks | Online As more print publications and manuals go online, it's vital to understand the similarities and differences between writing for print and writing for online delivery. Explore theories and practices for creating online documentation and learn how to structure and write material to be viewed online. This includes information and project design, differences between print and online delivery, and selecting the appropriate format and media. You will have ample opportunity to practice writing for online delivery and to work with some of the tools...

Information Design for Technical Communicators 10 weeks | Online Professionals who produce technical communications—whether they are technical writers, web and graphic designers, trainers, or engineers—can benefit from knowledge of information design. In broad terms, information design is the integration of words and pictures to help readers meet their goals for using the communication piece. The focus of this course is using design principles to translate complex, unorganized, or unstructured content and data into valuable and meaningful information that is easy to use, easy to understand,...

Critical Thinking for Communicators 10 weeks | Online Critical thinking affects all communication but one may not realize it. It must be learned to ensure that one thinks, reads, writes, and edits with integrity and communicates with clear language, especially to reason better. This course explains some of the skills that professional communicators (i.e., business, science, technical, and other professions with writers and copyeditors) use to draw logical conclusions to complex problems or issues. In this class, students examine their thinking processes--how they use reason to solve...

Technical Communication II 10 weeks | Online This is the capstone course of the Technical Communication Certificate Program. All Required classes must be taken before enrolling in this class. This course includes both a review of some of the key principles and best practices of the field, along with some in-depth training in, and hands-on practice with, two of the most important and prevalent genres in the field: instructional documentation and proposals. Both projects involve most, if not all, of the stages of the tech comm writing process, including research and audience analysis;...

This ten-week online Grammar Lab course is skillfully designed to meet the needs of all students. It is beneficial for those with little grammar experience and advantageous for those with a strong grammar background seeking expert status. Whether you are looking to gain a solid foundation in grammar or hoping to refresh your knowledge with today’s most recent rules of grammar and English usage, this course will provide you with the opportunity to discover and focus more on those areas that you specifically need to review, and less on those that you have already mastered. In this class,...

User Interface Design 9 Weeks Gain a strong understanding of user interface design so you can begin to learn how to be an interactive designer or enhance your design skills. This graphic and web design training course covers references, user experience (UX), and usability principles. Topics include psychological and interaction principles, requirements analysis, designing for different screens (web, TVs and mobile devices), design standards, style guides, techniques and visual design principles. Gain the perspective to give consumers a high-quality design experience so you can advance your...

Project Management for Technical Communicators 6 weeks | Online How can you keep your technical communication project on track when the goal is always changing? Let an experienced project manager teach you how to tame your wild project. Learn to do document needs analysis, productivity metrics, project estimation (cost and timeline), and progress tracking and reporting. Get hands-on practice on a course project (a cost and timeline estimate) you will create from a set of starting requirements. For your convenience, homework assignments will build toward the course project, and you can do...

Tools for Technical Communicators 10 weeks | Online Technical communicators use a variety of tools to create and present information. We will review and discuss such tools as word processors, text editors, HTML editors, desktop publishing software, and graphics programs. You will develop an analytical approach for selecting the right tools for various types of projects and will apply what you learn to a writing project. Quarters Offered: Fall | Online Prerequisite: None Software: MS Word and Adobe Acrobat (Reader or Professional) Note: Fulfills 3 units toward electives for the Technical...

Adobe InDesign 9 Weeks | $595 | Online Learn to use Adobe InDesign, a comprehensive page layout software, in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create various kinds of publications and documents for print and onscreen viewing. This course includes easy-to-follow exercises and several projects which will be reviewed and evaluated throughout the course. You will use InDesign to learn about three primary disciplines: type, images, and color. You will also learn how to examine, troubleshoot, fix, and package digital files. What You Will Learn: A detailed understanding of type...

Adobe Photoshop I: Introduction 9 Weeks | $595 | Online An introduction to Adobe Photoshop, the imaging software application used by professional graphic artists to create and modify images for use in print and web media. This graphic design training course includes topics about working with the tools and user interface, working with selections, retouching, correcting, and enhancing photographs, layer basics, masking, compositing, preparing files for the web, and more. Students learn through hands-on practice and a series of creative projects. What You Will Learn: Possess image editing...

Adobe Illustrator 9 Weeks | $595 | Online Learn the industry-standard professional vector drawing program Adobe Illustrator. In this graphic design training course, students will gain practical experience with Adobe Illustrator's precision drawing and transformation tools for creating and editing Bézier curves, color, gradients, gradient mesh, patterns, transparency, type, layers, and more. Through a series of creative projects students will gain experience in using Illustrator to produce art for both print and web design. What You Will Learn: The features of vector-based design software....

Introduction to Adobe Creative Cloud 9 Weeks | $595 | Online This introductory course will get your feet wet with some basics of the Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign). Introduction to Adobe Creative Cloud was designed to provide future graphic designers, artists, and illustrators with an overview of technology and its role in graphic design. You’ll begin by learning file management and page layout and how they relate to visual communication, and some basics of the grid systems and color. You will then be guided through design exercises to create a variety of projects...

UX for Technical Communicators 6 Weeks | Online User Experience (or UX) is a new communication design discipline that emerged in the years following the birth of the internet. It is focused on creating digital media that is both highly functional and highly informative – whether in the form of software applications or websites – with the intent of influencing the perceptions and behaviors of users. Practitioners of UX must possess a unique combination of advanced communication skills along with expertise in usability and human-computer interaction. Consequently, UX is also a field in which...