Here is a list of online technical writing courses and learning materials I have studied with my personal reviews attached. Most of the resources here are in English, though some are aimed at Chinese speakers.
The list is still under development, and hopefully will be useful to anyone who is embarking on the career of technical writing just like me.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
These Google courses are suitable for a complete beginner of technical writing, as they cover the basics and intermediate
topics in
technical writing. Google provides these online courses in two forms:
Highlights:
The pre-class and in-class materials are freely available for anyone (even if you are not attending the live sessions). These
materials consist of detailed instructions and exercises related to some use of English grammar, punctuation, organization of
paragraph, skills in editing, illustrating and so on. In pre-class materials, possible answers to exercises are given, but no
answers to the in-class exercises. Therefore, I posted here some of my answers to in-class exercises for reference if you are
interested.
Limitations:
As the virtual live sessions are usually provided once a month and the schedule for next sessions are only given one month
ahead (sometimes with no updates at all), the sessions are not as freely available as the pre-class and in-class materials.
So I haven’t found the chance to attend these sessions, but feel free to check out the sessions yourself.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
This is another course suitable for complete beginners to upgrade their skills in technical writing. It consists of four
modules:
* Fundamentals of Technical Writing
* Design Principles and Essential Writing Tools
* Diverse Technical Document Types and Ethical Practices
* Advanced Topics and Career Advancement
Highlights:
The course offers an overview of the principles, common document types, writing and illustrating tools, and some of the best
practices in technical writing. Personally, the second and the fourth module have been more useful to me, as they include
some practical advice in document design, creating a strong technical writing portfolio, and self-directed learning.
Limitations:
The course only scratches the surface of technical writing, and it is more theory-based without giving many hands-on
exercises. So, this course may not be very informative for people who already have some knowledge of this field or for those
who are seeking to enhance their skills in a real-world situation, such as producing a certain type of technical document
with the help of a specific writing tool.
NOTE:
The following courses and learning materials are mainly for Chinese speakers, as they are made by Zhijun Gao, a Chinese lecturer who is currently teaching at the School of Software and Microelectronics of Peking University.
Doctor Gao has been kind enough to post some of his online courses and sessions on Bilibili and corresponding textbooks through Github and ReadtheDocs. All of the resources here are freely available online. As some of the books and materials are still under development, no ratings are given here. However, most of the resources listed below have been extremely useful for me. So if you are also new to technical writing, you can go through the courses and textbooks one by one as they are sequenced below. Alternatively, you can select whatever interests you and delve into that to learn more.
Doctor Gao has also been active on several Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo, Zhihu and has his own website which contains many other great articles and resources related to technical communications, language learning and computer-aided translation apart from the list shown below.
This section contains one textbook and an online session. The topics discussed in this section include:
* Overview of Technical Writing
* Common Forms of User Assistance
* User Needs Analysis
* Design of Technical Information
* Fundamental Skills of Technical Information Developing
* Common Technical Writing Tools
* Case Study：Improving Manuals for Technical Products(e.g. AntConc)
...