2005 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference Proceedings

0-7803-9028-8/05/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE.

tekom Concept for Concurrent Education of Technical Communicators

Rolf Schwermer Fachhochschule Hannover –University of Applied Sciences rolf.schwermer@ik.fh-hannover.de

Abstract

tekom is the German professional association for technical communication and information development (www.tekom.de).

tekom research has shown that 87% of the professionals working in the field of technical communication in Germany have no specific education in technical communication. For that reason there is a strong demand for concurrent education (and optionally, certification) for professional technical communicators.

In 2003 tekom started to offer a new concurrent education program for qualification and certification focusing on advanced qualifications for professionals.

Keywords: tekom, qualification, concurrent education, certification

Analysing the German Situation for Technical Communication Professionals

Up to a research in 2000 the situation of technical communication professionals in Germany was unclear: Nobody exactly knew how many technical communicators are working in Germany. What is their professional standard like? In which fields of industry are technical communicators engaged? How big is the demand of a professional training program for them?

That is why tekom, the German professional association for technical communication and information development, started a research to

answer these questions in 2000. The following data was evaluated:

• The total number of technical communicators working in Germany is 80,000.

• 87% of them are not specifically educated as technical communicators. Although they are educated as mechanical engineers, programmers, or other technical experts, their main task is the development of technical documentation in a wide variety of different media, content, and subject areas.

• It is obvious that these facts strongly demand a professional training program for such technical communicators. Such a program has to meet several requirements: • It has to be flexible because of the

individual state of knowledge and capabilities.

• The participants in such a program should not be regarded as beginners because many times they have extensive practical experience.

• The educational program must be a concurrent system, which can be attended by participants who are working full time.

tekom Initiative for Concurrent Education

As a result of this research, tekom developed a concept and a platform for concurrent education for the 87% of the people working in this field without formal training in technical communica-tion. Two basic aspects can characterize this program of concurrent education:

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• Organizational approach: Each of the parti-cipants at this program should be able to develop an individual learning path, based on individual counseling before starting the program. There should be as few restrictions for attending the program as possible.

• Educational approach: The program should be based on the assumption that the participants already have individual abilities, which they want to improve or to deepen. This is what is called a resource-oriented approach (not deficit-oriented).

tekom Modules for Concurrent Education

In 2000 a working group of tekom experts started to develop 18 modules for a concurrent education

program. These modules describe certain qualifications for an educated technical communicator and have two different functions:

• In the beginning of concurrent education, the modules serve as a scale of qualification, so that the knowledge and abilities of a technical communicator can be estimated when this person asks for counseling.

• Secondly, the 18 modules describe a curriculum for concurrent education: 6 of the modules are obligatory modules, and 12 are elective modules. Depending on which field the technical communicator wants to specialize in, he or she should fulfill at least 4 of 12 elective modules and of course the 6 obligatory modules. For a description of the modules, see Table 1.

Table 1: 18 Modules = Qualifikationsbausteine. Each module is described by its motivation, learning content, learning aims, and methods.

Module No. Module Name

1 Types of Technical Documentation

2 Information Research

3 Text Production

4 Terminology Management

5 Structuring and Standardizing, SGML/XML, Single-source Management Cor

e M

odul

es

(ob

liga

tory

)

6 Legal Aspects of Technical Documentation

7 Planning of Technical Documentation

8 Design/Layout

9 Communication Skills

10 Visualization

11 Online Help

12 Databases

13 Organizational Aspects of Technical Documentation

14 Quality Management

15 Software and Hardware

16 International Documentation

17 Copying Technical Documentation

Ele

ctiv

e M

odul

es

18 Technical Communicator—Profile of a Profession

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tekom Organizational Concept for Concurrent Education

While developing the modules, tekom also developed an organizational concept for concurrent education based on these modules. Today tekom’s concurrent education program for technical communicators consists of three elements:

1. Consultation: tekom offers its members a free initial consultation to establish the individual’s need for concurrent education. Non-members must pay 70 euro as a consultation fee. Each individual who wants such an initial consultation must fill out a questionnaire in advance. The questionnaire concerns his or her knowledge and abilities relating to the 18 modules. Based on this questionnaire, each individual has a consultation that results in a detailed recommendation for which of the modules he or she should take.

2. Platform for educators: tekom has organized a platform for educators and educational

institutions that will offer courses corresponding to the 18 tekom modules. The tekom organization by itself offers only a few of these courses, workshops, seminars.

3. Certificate: Many of the technical communi-cators who take part at the concurrent educa-tion in technical communication want to be tekom-certified technical communicators. For that reason, tekom offers twice a year exami-nations for tekom certification. Today more than 50 individuals have succeeded in gaining the status as tekom-certified technical communicators. The first examinations were held in spring 2004, and the demand for the tekom certificate is increasing.

Development of the concurrent education program started in 2000 with the development of the 18 modules for the program. Today the process is fully developed as a program for concurrent education (steps 1 to 4).

Table 2: tekom Program for Concurrent Education—The Developmental Steps

Steps Technical Communicator = Participant

tekom Educators for Technical Communication

0 Preparation of 18 modules =scale for concurrent education

1 Initial consultation: Is there an individual need for concurrent education?

Yes (What kind of need?) / No

2 tekom organizes a platform for educators

Participating at concurrent education courses,

workshops, seminars etc. tekom acts as mediator

Offeringconcurrent education courses,

workshops, seminars etc.

3 Succeeding in concurrent education life long

learningand (optional) …

4 Individual examination: “Technischer Redakteur (tekom)” = tekom certified technical communicator

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Conclusion and Perspectives

The tekom program for concurrent education for technical communicators seems to be an adequate solution for the educational demands of the majority of technical communicators who are working in this field today. The tekom program offers an individualized method of qualification and—if wanted—of certification. Although the tekom program is quite new, first results and feedback from individuals and companies are very positive. Many of the participants point out that they made up their minds to take part in the program especially because of the individualized character of the whole program: the individual consultation, the choice of modules, the time schedule, and even the choice to gain certification or just to use the program for their own qualification without formal certification.

Because of the positive results and the continuous evaluation of the program, the first review of the program’s 18 modules has started to shape them even more to the demands of the working field of technical communication.

A perspective of further development of concurrent education for technical communicators in a European context could have the following results:

• The 18 Modules (Qualifikationsbausteine) could be translated or adapted by other European organizations for technical communicators.

• The experiences with the tekom concept for concurrent education could simply be shared with groups in other countries.

• The tekom concept for concurrent education and certification could be transferred to demands of other organizations for technical communicators.

Further Information

www.tekom.de

About the Author

Rolf Schwermer, senior lecturer in the technical communication programme of Fachhochschule Hannover (university of applied sciences and arts), Germany (www.ik.fh-hannover.de). He holds degrees in linguistics (Germanistik), history, and Turkish. He founded his own company providing

services in technical documentation. He has several years experience teaching technical communication in postgraduate institutes.

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