By Seán Daffy, MA in Technical Communication and E-Learning, University of Limerick
I am a postgrad student here in UL studying the MA in Technical Communication and E-Learning part-time. This is a career change for me because I was a working archaeologist and lecturer with a PhD. I am living in Galway so I am studying online and attending workshops in UL, it’s what they call blended learning and it works really well. I didn’t want to leave Galway, my wife has a permanent job, we have two daughters and we are living in a beautiful place. My decision to do this programme was focused on employment, I wanted something to get me a job and that would be family friendly. I know people who did the programme before, fellow students last year who did the technical writing cert and they are all getting jobs. This MA complemented my skills and I didn’t feel like I was starting from square one again. Technical Communication and E-Learning appealed to me as I have an interest in podcasts and creative and educational content. With a lot of the projects I am working on I use my previous experience as an archaeology lecturer as my own subject matter to keep my love of archaeology alive. The programme is excellent, there are aspects I thought would never be part of it and the programme itself is very interesting and engaging. I find with this programme you have to dedicate two and a half working days a week to it otherwise you might not get the most out of it. This MA is within the humanities stream and there is a structured approach to it making it quite enjoyable. This programme is about technical writing, content writing and information design. If you like and are interested in design and how different elements work together this programme is for you. It’s the process, the approach in UL that has impressed me, people talk about standards all the time but it’s the approach that sets the standards. Good standards come about because institutions put in place the processes that students need to achieve good standards. Find out more about the MA in Technical Communication and E-Learning: https://www.ul.ie/gps/course/technical-communication-e-learning-ma
