TeXt Marks The Spot

www.toycyte.com

A writer’s dream is to write about a topic of true interest…and get paid to do so. As a blogger for ToyCyte, I get to play with words and toys, thus merging my passion for writing and collecting. Beyond toys, I’m interested in all aspects of how art and culture collide. I cover designer toys, urban art, DIY and custom toys, the artists behind the projects and related events. Browse my features and interviews in the Toys and Trends category section of TeXt Marks the Spot here, or click here to read my most recent postings directly on ToyCyte. I average 7 posts a day, 5 days a week. You probably didn’t think there was that much toy news, but there’s plenty if you know where to find it.

www.eastbayinsomniac.com

East Bay Insomniac (EBI) began in 2003 as a hobby-project to find places to eat that served food past 10PM. It expanded into a full-service late-night Bay Area yellow pages. Users can search data, menus and reviews of 17 different kinds of cuisine; peruse local watering holes (alcohol and coffee) and check out a variety of evening activities from music to bowling to billiards to saunas. The site is also searchable by closing time. So if you’ve got a hankering to karaoke ’til 4AM, EBI has you covered. The site is updated as time permits. I do all the research, writing and principle photography.

I gave the site a facelift in 2007. This was my first foray into blogging. (I used Wordpress.) Before it became a dynamic blog, EBI was a static HTML page that looked like:

This course is directed to students who choose a legal career, whether as a manager, paralegal, secretary or attorney. It is broken down into 14 chapters: The Legal Marketplace, The Legal Team, Personnel Relations, The Attorney-Client Relationship, Paralegal Ethics and Client Relations, Legal Fees, Substantive and Procedural Issues, Billing and Financial Management, Managing the Client Funds Trust Account, Technology in the Law Office, Law Office Systems, Docket Control Systems, File and Records Management and Law Library Organization and Management. Each chapter includes key terms, sample assessments and additional Internet resources.

For this project, I used the 4th edition of Fundamentals of Law Office Management: Systems, Procedures and Ethics by Pamela Everett-Nollkamper (click here to page through the 3rd edition on Google) to create a WebTUTOR™ for Delmar Cengage Learning. Demo coming soon!

For each of the 14 chapters, I wrote:

• an overview
• objectives
• online class notes
• frequently asked questions about the topic
• a study sheet
• a glossary
• class discussion questions
• matching questions
• multiple choice questions
• true/false questions
• web resources

WebTUTOR™ is supplemental courseware that uses the Internet to complement Cengage Learning paralegal textbooks. It provides interactive reinforcement that helps students grasp complex concepts. WebTUTOR™ offers rich communication tools for instructors and students, including a course calendar, chat, email, threaded discussions, Web links, and a white board. It also includes additional online class notes, exercises with automatic feedback and scoring, and a glossary. Paralegal students will benefit from:

• Automatic and immediate feedback from quizzes and exams
• Online exercises that reinforce what they’ve learned
• Flashcards that include audio support
• Greater interaction and involvement through online discussion forums

This course is an introduction to law for students interested in pursuing a career as a legal professional. It is broken down into 16 chapters: The Historical Basis and Current Structure of the American Legal System, The Courts, Legislation, The Executive Branch and Administrative Authority, The Legal Professional, The Law of Ethics, Substantive and Procedural Issues, Jurisdiction, Torts, Family Law, Estates and Probate, Property Law, The Law of Contracts, The Law of Business, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure.

For this project, I used the 5th edition of Introduction to Law by Beth Walston-Dunham (click here to page through the 4th edition on Google) to create a WebTUTOR™ for Delmar Cengage Learning. Demo coming soon!

For each of the 16 chapters, I wrote:

• an overview
• objectives
• online class notes
• frequently asked questions about the topic
• a study sheet
• a glossary
• class discussion questions
• matching questions
• multiple choice questions
• true/false questions
• web resources

WebTUTOR™ is supplemental courseware that uses the Internet to complement Cengage Learning paralegal textbooks. It provides interactive reinforcement that helps students grasp complex concepts. WebTUTOR™ offers rich communication tools for instructors and students, including a course calendar, chat, email, threaded discussions, Web links, and a white board. It also includes additional online class notes, exercises with automatic feedback and scoring, and a glossary. Paralegal students will benefit from:

• Automatic and immediate feedback from quizzes and exams
• Online exercises that reinforce what they’ve learned
• Flashcards that include audio support
• Greater interaction and involvement through online discussion forums

Creating a custom textbook involves melding an established textbook with a course instructor’s syllabus and objectives. I match the individual course objectives with the pre-existing content. This creates a textbook that is customized to the course content and in order of the instructor’s lesson plans. Custom textbooks are proof of both the quality of the core textbook and the ability of an instructional designer to become a Subject Matter Expert (SME).

In creating a custom textbook on Music Appreciation, I was given Charles Hoffer’s Music Listening Today to use as the basis for the new book. I aligned the content of Music Listening Today with the objectives for a college course on Music Appreciation, which resulted in a custom textbook of 43 chapters. The real pièce de résistance of this project is the 600+ quiz questions I created to correspond to the course’s learning objectives. I enjoy making assessments. Perhaps I got that from my mother, who is a teacher. I’ve made a few sample quizzes from Music Appreciation available below.

I worked for Stanford University’s HighWire Press as a Production QA Analyst from 2002-2004. Most of this entailed running tests on a series of online medical journals. When HighWire began to automate this process, I assisted in writing the documentation and running the usability test.

While pursuing a certificate in Technical Communication at UC Berkeley’s Extension, I had the opportunity to conduct a usability test for local online movie rental website, Greencine.com. Below are sample pages from the completed test report.

From 2004-2005, I worked for Ion Systems writing manuals and field service bulletins on high technology static control. I wrote and edited text and processed images for the documents. Ion Systems was acquired by MKS in 2006, and it still has its own imprint here. It’s been a while since I’ve written about crimping tools and butt connectors, but I could probably still tell you the basics of ionization (and how that Sharper Image air cleaner you bought is just a high-priced paperweight). Ion keeps its documents under access control, which means it’s not cool for me to post full manuals here. I may be able to provide you with a PDF, and I can definitely show samples in person. Click the thumbnails for a glimpse.

I created a couple of manuals for Open Enterprises. These manuals were designed to be used in their retail stores, Good Vibrations. The manuals were:

• a reference guide for the Safe Wizard
• a training guide for their P.O.S. system

Due to sensitive information contained within, I can only provide images of the Safe Wizard’s cover and Table of Contents.

Creating a custom textbook involves melding an established textbook with a course instructor’s syllabus and objectives. I match the individual course objectives with the pre-existing content. This creates a textbook that is customized to the course content and in order of the instructor’s lesson plans. Custom textbooks are proof of both the quality of the core textbook and the ability of an instructional designer to become a Subject Matter Expert (SME).

Writing is obviously a subject I enjoy, so putting together this book came naturally. In this case, I worked with The Decisive Writer and its author, Kathryn Raign, to create the custom textbook. Kathryn provided 30+ Learning Outcomes which I used to align the content and craft 10 chapters worth of quiz questions (three samples below). To complete this package, I selected useful multimedia to match and enhance the core content.