The Beginning of the Journey: WriteTech Bootcamp (Cohort 1)
Introduction
Zaycodes is a brand that focuses on two key aspects: writing technical documents and offering valuable guidance on contributing to open-source projects. A key objective of ours is to empower people to know how to write technical documents. Organizing bootcamps is one of the ways that we are using to accomplish our objective at Zaycodes.
We called this bootcamp the “WriteTech Bootcamp” because we wanted the name to portray what the participants were going to be doing during the bootcamp i.e. writing and learning how to write technical documents. The WriteTech Bootcamp was the first of its kind.
Over the course of the bootcamp, participants delved into technical writing, sharpening their skills and expanding their knowledge under the expert guidance of our facilitators. This program was designed to equip aspiring technical writers with the essential techniques needed to excel in the industry. From mastering the art of crafting clear and concise documentation to formatting and publishing technical documents, the bootcamp offered a comprehensive learning experience that empowered the participants to communicate complex ideas effectively. Throughout this cohort, we referred to our participants as WriteTechers.
This article gives the highlights and key takeaways of the WriteTech bootcamp (Cohort 1).
Overview of the WriteTech Bootcamp
This cohort was the pilot program of the WriteTech bootcamp. We had a whooping total of over 300+ applicants who registered to be on our waitlist.
Of the 300+ applications we got, we accepted 20 participants for our first cohort. For this cohort, we had 4 facilitators, 11 sessions, 4 assessments, 1 final project, and 17 graduates. All successful participants received a certificate of completion.
The bootcamp spanned for a period of five weeks, and our participants ranged from various backgrounds, from software engineers looking to pivot to technical writing to newbies getting into the field for the first time to intermediate technical writers looking to expand or refresh their knowledge.
We had four amazing facilitators who took the writetechers through different aspects of technical writing, gave assessments, and offered mentorship. They were Oluchi Nwenyi, Idris Ndubisi, Victor Ikechukwu and Olaminde Makinde. Their mentorship and guidance were part of the driving forces of the bootcamp.
At the end of the bootcamp, we wanted to know how we did during the first cohort, so we asked our writetechers for their feedback, and this is what they had to say;
Onboarding
The bootcamp started off with our onboarding call. This was important as it was the first interaction our participants had with the Zaycodes team and their facilitators. The call was to congratulate them on getting into the program and educate them on what the program was about, our goals and expectations from them, and their graduation requirements.
We also let the participants know the path this cohort would take, which included four weeks of training and tutoring sessions, including assessments from our facilitators, and then a final project on the fifth week.
These assessments were compiled and graded, and the first six winners were awarded cash prizes.
Week 1 – Introduction to Technical Writing- Oluchi Nwenyi
Our first week had us learning from Oluchi. A software engineer and technical writer.
Oluchi explained to us what technical writing was, its importance, applications, characteristics, how to understand our audience, effective language and tone, how to structure technical documents, etc. Some notable snippets from her session were technical writing cuts across a variety of fields, helping transfer knowledge, and helping product owners communicate how to use their services.
She also mentioned that our technical pieces should be audience-focused, i.e., our material should be focused on the user’s needs, taking into consideration their level of understanding of a particular concept.
Our writetechers wrote their first technical document on a topic of their choice as their assessment.
Week 2 – Planning and Researching for Technical Writing – Idris Olubisi
Idris Olubisi is a skilled Software Engineer and Technical Writer with expertise in open source, blockchain, software products, and serverless technologies.
During his sessions, writetechers learned how to effectively plan and research in technical writing, how to analyze audiences, how to gather and analyze information from various sources, how to organize and outline information, and how to determine a technical document’s purpose and scope, among other topics.
Some of the key excerpts from his session were that we should identify the purpose and goal of the particular content, set clear objectives and deliverables, identify reliable sources of information, define who our audience is from the beginning, tailor the content to our audience, consider our audience’s technicality level, consider the purpose for which our audience will use the content, consider cultural and regional differences, etc.
Writetechers got hands-on experience by researching a technical subject of their choosing, gathering information, and formulating an outline for a technical document based on their research.
Week 3 – Writing and Editing Technical Documents- Victor Ikechukwu
Victor Ikechukwu is a Software engineer and Technical writer with over 2 years of experience in both fields.
Our learning session from Victor included how to write technical documents effectively, how to use the Technical Writing Style guide, how to avoid common technical writing mistakes, how to review and edit technical documents for accuracy and clarity, and how to incorporate graphics, tables, and diagrams into technical documents.
Some tips from his session were to have a style guide, be knowledgeable of naming conventions, use an engaging tone, etc.
Week 4 – Formatting and Publishing Technical Documents by Olamide Makinde
Olamide Makinde is a skilled Technical Writer and Editor with a strong passion for grammar and enhancing digital assets.
Olamide tutored us on how to format and publish technical documents, and the writetechers got to create a technical document using formatting tools and prepare the document for publication as a print and as an ebook.
Writetechers learned about the use of different formatting tools in technical writing, preparing the technical document for publication, common types of publication, and their requirements.
Here are a few highlights from her session; We should format our text according to the medium in which our users would consume our work, links should not be attached to works that would be printed out, documents should be created in a way that is easy for user to navigate, table of contents are important, etc.
Achievements and Rewards
Out of the 20 participants that were onboarded, we had 17 successful graduates.
Here are some of the projects that writetechers worked on during the bootcamp:
- How to Create and Send Custom Emails using React Email and Resend API by Feyijimi Erinle
- An introduction to javascript DOM by Johnson Okafor
- Churn Prediction: Building a bank customer churn prediction model using machine learning by Nafs Ahmad
- From Lab to Code; Explore Open Science Initiatives and Open Source Projects That Are Transforming Scientific Discoveries by Zainab Ikeoluwa
- More
During the bootcamp, one of our Writetecher’s articles was recognised by Hashnode.
For this cohort, we decided to reward our top 3 Writetechers for their overall performance and also our top 3 articles.
For this cohort, we decided to reward our top 3 Writetechers for their overall performance and also our top 3 articles.
More Feedback
We had a lot of awesome reviews on our Slack channel and social media, here are a few:
Feedback Form
- Here’s feedback from Clement Emmanuel Eyo;
“I had a wonderful time learning at Writetech Bootcamp. I learned how to structure technical documents and how to use effective language and tone.
Also, I was made to understand that before writing, I have to pay attention to the target audience and make my documents as concise as possible.
The principles of planning and researching were laid bare to us in the class, and we were also taught the concept of gathering and analyzing information for proper technical documentation.
I’d love to use this medium to appreciate Zaycodes and everyone on the team for putting this bootcamp together.
A big thank you to all the tutors; I’m grateful.”
Articles:
- Heartfelt Gratitude for the WriteTech Bootcamp by Johnson Okafor
- Dear Zaycodes, Thank you: My review of the WriteTech cohort 1 Bootcamp, The First Runner-Up Tale by Feyijimi Erinle.
Social Media
Final Notes
As we mark the end of our WriteTech Bootcamp cohort 1, we are grateful for the progress of Writetechers and how well it went, being that this was our first experience. So much knowledge was shared and transferred between our facilitators and the WriteTechers.
We look forward to empowering more technical writers in the upcoming cohorts.
If you are interested in working with us, either as a partner, sponsor, or facilitator, we certainly would like to hear from you.
Feel free to contact us on social media: LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
