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Subject:Re: Software for students From:"Laura A Mac Lemale" <lmaclemale -at- paychex -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 23 Feb 2001 13:21:12 -0500
Hello all,
Dr. Marie Paretti requested some input from the list as to software training for students in a TW program. Just a quick comment based solely on personal experience. (I'm on digest, so a day late and .02 cents short!)
I didn't see any mention of software for use in creating online tutorials (i.e., Macromedia Director, Toolbook, Demoshield, etc.)
In a grad course I took entitled _Computers in Tech Comm_, we had an overview of several different types of software that included simple Director and RoboHelp projects as well as an over of Javascripting and C++. This type of course doesn't make you a tool expert but it does give you exposure to underlying concepts.
We also had a course in which we completed a semester-long interactive project using Toolbook. (On the job, I have used Demoshield to create tutorials.) IMHO, students should at least be exposed to a high-end tool like Director.
Other than that addition, I agree with all of the comments although everyone has their own preference for order of importance. :)
<sidebar>
I also had the opportunity to take an elective course called _Typography_ in which we were required to create our own font from scratch. We used Macromedia Fontographer to create the "online" version of our font. While this list occasionally debates the significance of font selection <g>, this project gave me an understanding and appreciation of typography that I might not have had otherwise. It also allowed
us to indulge our creative sides in an otherwise techie atmosphere.
</sidebar>
Regards,
Laura MacLemale
Technical Writer
Paychex, Inc.
Rochester, NY USA
lmaclemale -at- paychex -dot- com
Disclaimer: Usual disclaimer applies.
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