Technical Writing - Training Programs

[themathsolution]

I have been researching various technical writing programs in Israel,
and I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions on 'writepoint',
'livelinx', 'on target communications', the YEDA school, and the ISTC
online program based in the UK, or another program that was not
listed. Thanks...

[LeahDShae]

One of the programs you didn't list was the technical writing course
given by In Other Words.

This course has been around about 11 years, now, and is currently
being taught in both Acco and Tel Aviv. I myself graduated the class
10 years ago and have gone on to have a successful career in technical
writing. I have also taught a few sessions in the course over the
years, though I am by no means a regular teacher.

I've known the people at Words for a long time, and they've helped me
along in my career. I like Leah Guren, who teaches the course. Leah
knows her stuff, cares about quality, and (rightfully) expects her
students to apply themselves, more or less how a boss expects
employees to apply themselves on the job.

Many of the things I learned in that course, I still use today. And,
of all the technical writers I've met in Israel, more of them have
been graduates of the In Other Words course than any other. (To be
fair, I live in the north and I'd imagine the percentages would be
different the closer I got to Jerusalem.)

As for the other courses you mentioned:

I heard that YEDA left students hanging several years ago when they
closed their classroom doors without warning one day in the middle of
a course. (They were not always "online.") I also heard that the
quality of the course in general was not very good, though that may
have changed over the years.

Writepoint's course is very new (started about a year ago), and
they've only run it twice, I believe. I've met some of the people who
work at Writepoint and they seem quite competent to me, but I have not
met or talked with any of the graduates, so I don't have any opinion
as to the quality of the course.

I do not know anything about LiveLinx, OnTarget, or the ISTC.

Hope this helps,

Leah

On Feb 18, 3:27 pm, "themathsolution" <themathsolut...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[pres...@stc-israel.org.il]

Apparently Yeda has improved in recent years. Our company is working
with
someone who studied at Yeda, and we are more than pleased with his
work.

To be truthful, I honestly think that while a course does have some
impact
on the student, in most cases, how well one learns is really based on
the
student and their capabilities. I think people who run ALL of these
courses
would say they accepted people whom they weren't sure would do well,
and
those people were great successes. Others seemed to be a sure success,
but
went on to prove themselves quite weak in their work.

I myself did my MA through distance learning in the UK. I learned a
lot.
Having said that, if I had studied more, I would have learned more.
But
working and studying at the same time meant I had to focus my learning
on
those things that interested me. I did well, and am pleased with the
results, but am certain that I could have learned more if I'd had more
time
to apply myself.

In looking at courses, I think the potential student should check
carefully
into why teaching method is most suitable, as well as how they feel
with the
instructors.

I hope these thoughts are helpful.

Debbie Shapiro
President, STC Israel

[Shalek, Leah]

Hi,

 

I would like to apologize to Mati Schwartz and clarify that it was NOT YEDA that closed its doors on its students several years ago, it was MediaWorks.

 

Sorry about that!  I don't know what I was thinking...

 

Take care,

Leah

[Svi Ben-Elya]

You can now find a list of all of the course providers in Israel with
contact information for each at www.elephant.org.il/courses/

Hopefully this will help you and others find and compare courses.

On Feb 18, 4:27 pm, "themathsolution" <themathsolut...@gmail.com>
wrote: