First Quarter, Front Row, AI-generated You or Real You?

We have completed the first quarter of IS101-3003, Fall 2023!

Wayne and Valeria showed up to the classroom early and took on Bonus Quiz 4. After reviewing the answers and rationale for BQ4, I gave the first half of my second presentation: Job Hunting and Fulfillment while leaving the second half A3 Tailored Cover and Resume as optional for my students to explore on their own.

L2A: http://thedopeyone.atwebpages.com/Slide01.htm

L2B: http://kingofrocknroll.atwebpages.com/Slide01.htm

I used the majority of the classroom time to help students clean-up their earlier assignments, threaded discussions, and LabSim tasks. Looking to the week ahead, I hope to inspire my real-life students with examples of A4 Homepage, Website, Online Publishing from five fictitious students showcasing their individuality, creativity, and accomplishments in IS101 (e.g. assignments and certifications):

Albert Einstein

    http://thedopeyone.atwebpages.com/Homepage.htm

    http://thedopeyone.atwebpages.com/Homepage (Borders Visible).htm

Marie Curie

    http://mariasklodowska.atwebpages.com/Homepage.htm

    http://mariasklodowska.atwebpages.com/Homepage (Borders Visible).htm

Benjamin Franklin

    http://poorrichard.atwebpages.com/Homepage.htm

    http://poorrichard.atwebpages.com/Homepage (Borders Visible).htm

Florence Nightingale

    http://theladywiththelamp.atwebpages.com/Homepage.htm

    http://theladywiththelamp.atwebpages.com/Homepage (Borders Visible).htm

Elvis Presley

    http://kingofrocknroll.atwebpages.com/Homepage.htm

    http://kingofrocknroll.atwebpages.com/Homepage (Borders Visible).htm

• What will you leave behind after you complete IS101-3003?

• How will you show people what you have accomplished in IS101-3003?

• What distinguishes you from other people who have completed IS101 or a comparable course?

• What makes you stand out amongst other holders of the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Word and Excel certifications?

• What separates you from other past, present, and future students of Albert Wu?

For the remaining three quarters, I hope seeds of creativity, ambition, and performance will inspire my real-life students to create a digital portfolio via A4.

Anisley (Ani), Manassiya, Wayne are at the front of the IS101-3003 coursework progress curve. Two of the three always sat in the very front row in the classroom. Both accepted my request to be the first to present their A5 Slideshow Presentation next Saturday, I am so proud them :-)

Continuing from my previous two blog posts on artificial intelligence and facial recognition, please watch this 7 min 33 sec video:

Click to view the video and try to view it in full screen mode

Students, please share your answers to my five questions above and your thoughts on the video.

First Exam, Front Runners, and Facial Recognition

This past Saturday, seventeen out of the twenty students took Online and Computer Essentials Exam (covering Chapters 1 & 2, worth 5% of IS101 total grade, one-attempt only). Manny C., who goes by Manny, earned the highest score.

After the first exam of the semester, I gave my first lecture: Hardware, Troubleshoot, End-User Cyber Security, Rationale in Choosing a Computing Device which contributes heavily to the upcoming Bonus Quiz 4 and Bonus Quiz 5. Hmm, I wonder how many students would explore http://poorrichard.atwebpages.com/Slide01.htm to see the homepage I made for my fictitious student, Benjamin Franklin?

Many students are keeping up with coursework, some are playing catch up, but Manuel W., Mannasiya, Anisley (Ani), are proactively working ahead of schedule and emerging as the face of IS101-3003, Fall 2023 at the time of this blog post :-)

Speaking of face, as a follow-up to the video in my previous week's blog post, please watch this video: Facial Recognition: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO). The video may be from June 2020 and the topic is at least a several years old but the implications are just beginning to be vetted and addressed.

Note 1: Viewer discretion is advised as the 21-min video contains strong languages and John Oliver's brand of humor. If you are under the age of 18 and cannot obtain your parent's permission, let me know and I will give you an alternate assignment in place of watching this video.

Note 2: When I tried to search for this video through Blogger's YouTube video search/insert function, Blogger (owned by Google) would not return it -- along with almost all of John Oliver's videos -- as a search result. Hence, I inserted a screen capture of his video and pointed you to the URL. If that doesn't work, visit https://youtube.com and search for this video.

The five statements that stood out for me are:

 (1) Driver license photos from residents of these states (including Nevada)

 (2) 'Skynet but good'

 (3) Only 8 out of 42 matches were verifiably correct

 (4) "...argues that it has a First Amendment right to harvest data from social media."

 (5) "...'unconventional databases' for 'extreme opposition research'..."

These funny lines stood out for me as well: 'loser fish', 'your brain autocompleted the rest', and 'accidentally made tennis interesting for a day'.

Students, please share your professional thoughts on what you learned from his video in your comment to this blog post :-)

Sea Legs, Heading Toward First Marker, and Artificial Intelligence

This past Saturday was the second class session. This past Sunday was the deadline to withdraw from a class and still receive half refund. The class roster is still at 20 students :-)

Majority of the students gained their sea legs evident by their coursework output and their level of communication. This coming Saturday is our first milestone marker in two ways. The familiar one is the first lecture presentation from me to my students. This will not only cover the topics of "Hardware, Troubleshooting, End-User Cyber Security, and Computing Device Selection Rationale" but also provide the materials for almost all of Bonus Quiz 4 and all of Bonus Quiz 5.

The new first milestone marker is new this semester: Online and Computer Essentials Exam, which we will take at the official start time of 9am after ambitious students take the optional Bonus Quiz 3 between 8am and 9am. I wish my students best in preparing for this coming Saturday.

After this Saturday, students will do threaded discussion D05 Essentials Exam and Preparation Toward a Job Posting, which includes the required portion of A3 where students can share their job hunting/interviewing experience with the class and how they would prepare for a job posting. In A3, students will be required to watch and read this:

Artificial Intelligence: The Robots Are Now Hiring (a 10-minute video and a half-page article)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/artificial-intelligence-the-robots-are-now-hiring-moving-upstream-1537435820

Click to view the video and try to view it in full screen mode

The article and the video may be eye-opening for students. Using algorithms in software to simulate intelligence is nothing new and quite common.

A few years ago, I emailed a company's customer support with some questions. The email responses I received made little sense. I deduced that they were (maybe still are) using chatbot software to respond to questions based on keywords/phrases in my email. But when the question is not simple or straightforward, the software make a best guess and respond accordingly. After a few rounds of exchange, a human finally responded and interpreted and answered my questions correctly.

I wonder what other examples of artificial intelligence have my students come across.

Students, your example must unique!

Furious Start, New Certifications, and What's in Your Portfolio?

Fall 2023 started furiously!

A week before the start of this semester, I learned that we are moving to the next version of the course curriculum and Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certifications. Adapting my syllabus to reflect the new curriculum and grading rubric is an expected chore. The change from MOS 2019 to MOS 365 and our program director's shifting the certification exams toward the end of a semester instead of immediately after finishing each application (e.g. Word, Excel) is completed, pique my curiosity.

I began contacting each student on roster the weekend before Day 1, Mon 8/28 to help them start IS101 section 3003, Fall 2023 strong. I noticed two more sections of IS101 were added and all online sections raised their enrollment capacity by 10% while in-person sections and hybrid sections raised by 5%. The names on my roster changed even after the first in-person classroom session today, Sat 9/2. It could potentially change further until end of tomorrow, Sun 9/3.

From WebEx meetings and phone calls before today's first classroom session, in-person interactions during the first classroom session, and what each student shared with me through his/her introduction email from A1 Professional Communication and first impression of IS101-3003 via his/her inaugural blog post from A2 Blog, I gained a glimpse into the background, personality, and ambition of each of my students save for the one that joined the class roster after the first classroom session.

Like past semesters, students range from a diverse background and varying levels of digital literacy. I am honored to have the opportunity be some students' first professor at College of Southern Nevada (CSN). I give thanks those who served or are serving in our military. I will guide those who are not comfortable or well versed in basic digital literacy. I will help elevate the level of MOS certifications and mastery of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint via my signature assignments for those who have above-and-beyond ambitions and follow through :-)

A few years ago, I saw this 11 min 14 sec video. I hope my students find it as inspiring as I did.

Click to view the video and try to view it in full screen mode

At the end of our first classroom session, Manassiya and Wayne -- both chose to sit in the front row of opposing halves of the classroom -- lead the class in their progress in IS101-3003. Leina, Ani, and Nadia are hot on their trails. I look forward to this coming week ^_^