My Signatures, Hall of Fame, Thanksgiving 'Re'-Cubed

This past Wednesday, Wayne met me in the classroom again to take on MO-210 Excel. This time, the former Navy Man scored even higher than he did on Monday :-) I look forward to seeing him returning from the Thanksgiving Break to take on and conquer the third Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification exam and becoming the first MOS Associate from IS101-3003, Fall 2023 ^_^

Since Fall 2019 when the Computer & Information Technology department incorporated MOS certification exams into the IS101 curriculum, I have always encouraged and facilitated my students to go above and beyond what are required by IS101 and enter my Hall of Fame. What excites me even more is the likelihood that Fall 2023 will not break that streak!

Thanksgiving Break is a welcomed respite from daily hustle and bustle & a time to rest, recharge, and reflect. On this final day of the break, I re-visit the question "What separates me/my IS101 from others?"

(1) Proactively connecting with each student on an individual level before a semester begins. I may not be the only IS101 faculty that reaches out to students before a semester begins but I believe I may be the only one to craft individual introduction email for each student and hold a WebEx meeting to not only put a face to a name for both of us but to ascertain a student's digital literacy level and/or correct any inaccurate preconception a student may have.

(2) Challenging students using analytical demonstrations/assignments/quizzes with context-based scenarios beyond mechanical-based tutorial steps. I evaluate a student's performance by the answers to these three questions: Did a student interpret the requirement(s)/scenario correctly? Did a student know the solution(s)/mitigation(s) to the correct requirement/scenario? Did a student articulate the solution(s)/mitigation(s) fully and succinctly in such a way that someone who has no prior knowledge of the solution(s)/mitigation(s) can understand it? Throughout the past 25 years of teaching part-time in digital literacy courses, I have evolved a set of 14 bonus quizzes and a set of 10 performance-based assignments.

(3) Enriching students with skills and habits that are not deeply covered by the IS101 curriculum but necessary for their digital literacy growth. Several years ago, around 2016 I think, I had a conversation with the Digital Literacy program director and he laments that we are about a decade behind as other higher education's digital literacy programs as they touch on websites and threaded discussions. I thought: hmm... I have been using my A4 Homepage, Website, Online Publishing since 2004 and A2 Blog Articles, Videos, Comments since 2007, has any other IS101 faculty from College of Southern Nevada (CSN) done something similar? Two key habits I instill in my students at the onset of a semester are (a) 'Single Sign-On (SSO) = Single Point-of-Failure (SPOF)'/how to manage one's many credentials/digital identities and (b) managing one's email Inbox with email folders and rules.

(4) Instilling/facilitating a hunger for above-and-beyond accomplishments instead of a getting-by attitude. In Fall 2019, CSN adopted MOS Word and MOS Excel as part of the industry certification component of the IS101 curriculum. As more of MOS certifications became available, I have always encouraged and helped students in preparing for any and all available MOS certifications at the moment. In Fall 2022, MOS PowerPoint was added to the requirement for IS101, meeting the minimum to earn the MOS Associate distinction. Since Fall 2019, five (5) of my former students have hit the MOS Homerun (earned all seven MOS certificates), three (3) achieved the MOS Expert distinction (MOS Associate plus at least two expert certificates), and at least eleven (11) went above and beyond what they needed for IS101.

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Starting from the upper left and heading down then to the right:

(A) My three answers to "What questions should one ask when deciding to purchase a computing device?"

(B) A sample homepage designed with Albert Einstein as a fictitious student whose A4 Homepage, Website, Online Publishing showcases his work products and accomplishments in IS101.

(C) Three of the four scenarios in my 'Straight Average vs. Weighted Average' walkthrough, which I walked through in class on November 4.

(D) An example of an email Inbox rule, [IS101 Assignments], I help my students create to declutter their Inbox and automatically file certain incoming emails to designated a folder.

(E) One of my most proud topic: teaching my students how to properly dissect an Uniform Resource Locator's (URL) components and each component's meaning and purpose.

(F) The fourth and the coup-de-grace scenario in my 'Straight Average vs. Weighted Average' walkthrough. This walkthrough is the most interactive lecture/presentation/walkthrough in my IS101 treasure chest.

(E) Roadmap to hitting a MOS Homerun.

As valuable and marketable the MOS certificates are, they are not my creation; my signature is enticing and helping my students go above and beyond in hitting a MOS Homerun.

Since I started teaching in higher education in Fall 1998, I have honed my own sets of results-based assignments and bonus quizzes.

*****A listing of my signature set of ten (10) assignments:

A1 Accounts Setup and Professional Communication

The inaugural assignment not only helps students set up most of the accounts they will need for IS101 but also gives me a glimpse into their digital literacy level, their comprehension skills, and their ability to follow written instructions. More importantly, it sets the rigorous tone, expectation to manage their folders and files, and how to participate in discussion threads for the remainder of the semester.

A2 Blog Posts, Articles, Videos, Comments

Nothing epitomizes living online than regular blog posts and commenting on each other's posts. As each student is sharing his/her life's happenings, views, passions, and even livelihood, I am chronicling major highlights and milestones of the course. Intertwined are also articles and videos related to the course. This assignment, along with another, serves to memorialize all of a student's hard work and accomplishment after the semester ends.

A3 Tailored Cover Letter and Resume

Perhaps the most practical assignment of all is one that helps a student improve his/her livelihood. Many times have students shared that the tailored resume from this assignment has helped them make a positive impression and even landing a job. Another highlight for me is helping those who have never created a resume or cover letter in creating their first one.

A4 Homepage, Website, Online Publishing

An online portfolio used to be something that made its owner stand out as a digital pioneer. Nowadays, one looks deficient without one. This is also where a student's individuality shines brightly and showcases all of his/her work products from IS101 and whatever else they want to share. I take special pride in helping my students with their homepage design using Microsoft Word and uploading website content to an ad-free hosting service.

A5 Slideshow Presentation

Students are excited to share their hobby, passion, or even livelihood with the class. Some dread presenting/public speaking. A partnership is formed where the student submits a draft and I polish their draft into a polished version. All are happy and energized after sharing their topic and learning new features in Microsoft PowerPoint.

A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer

The first of two capstone assignments, this one tests students' logical thinking, Microsoft Excel skills, and attention to details. More than just knowing how to implement formulas and functions, one must be able to interpret raw data with the proper context and present quantitative information in an understandable fashion both visually and logically.

A7 Mail Merge

The second capstone assignment tests students' self-sufficiency in digital literacy. When given an everyday scenario and a wizard in Microsoft Word to guide a student through a process to draw data from Microsoft Excel, some students are at a loss without step-by-step instructions. Some students rise up to the challenge. This final required assignment forces students to face the scenario of life after the classroom.

A8 Query Options and IF Statement

This bonus assignment is a direct continuation of A7 and is a jumping-off point to a higher level of logical thinking and software programming. Unlike A9, A8 can be very short and quick if a student focuses on the narrowly defined expected results, find and analyze the means to achieve those results beyond the superficial layer, and carry out the means correctly and completely.

A9 Workbook Investigation

The bonus optional assignment is an expanded and business scenario to test students' Microsoft Excel skills whereas A6 was an everyday life scenario. A9 is also the most involved assignment of this ten-assignment set. Only the more dedicated and detail-oriented students succeed in A9 and earn a special place in my memory lane of IS101.

A10 Improved Slideshow Presentation

The final bonus assignment comes in two flavors: single and duo. The 'single' is a way for students earn up to a couple of extra points to push themselves to the next grading sign if they are on the verge. The 'duo' requires two students to work collaboratively on a slideshow, present it as a team, and has the highest bonus credit potential in the ten-assignment set.

*****A list of my bonus quizzes:

BQ1 - Syllabus

BQ2 - Self-Reliance and Self-Responsibility

BQ3 - Jump Ahead & Special Characters in File Name

BQ4 - Display, Shift/Ctrl, Boot-up, Binary, IPOS

BQ5 - Social Engineering and Purchasing Rationale

BQ6 - Shortcut, Recycle Bin, and File Types

BQ7 - TCP/IP & One Big Thing and Generic Top Level Domains

BQ8 - Domain Name Registration, ccTLD Hack, and URL Parts

BQ9 - SEO Hats, Techniques, Consequences, and ccTLD Hack & URL Parts Revisited

BQ10 - Internet Search Engine and Business Email Compromise (BEC) Scam

BQ11 - Internet <> WWW and Educating a Layman on Mat Honan's Epic Hack

BQ12 - Microsoft Excel and Spreadsheet Analysis

BQ13 - Apex of Excel

BQ14 - Object Linking & Embedding, IPOS Perspective, and Applying Bloom’s Taxonomy

I have also encountered some rare gems and incorporated them into my IS101 curriculum. These rare gems include (a) sage comments from people from various walks of life responding to an idiotic open letter resulting from 'free', (b) a wickedly and brilliantly written memorandum from then chancellor of Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) in turnaround communication, (c) a detailed first-hand walkthrough of epic hack/social engineering and data recovery from a technology reporter, and (d) various current topic videos -- mostly from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

One of those current topic videos is 5 min 21 sec video: Artist wins photo award with AI generated image, sparking debate | DW News.

Students,

What would be your signature thoughts from the 5 min 21 sec video?

First Awards, Ahead of Schedule, Phase 3 of IS101

What an exuberant past four days!

The evening before Saturday's class, Wayne sent in the email portion of Bonus Quiz 11. This foreshadowed that the former Navy Man will follow through with the in-person portion of BQ11 in the classroom.

Bonus Quizzes 2 through 11 spanned eleven weeks -- I re-released BQ3 so it would not end up challenged. Both Wayne and Manual C. (Manny) earned the highest cumulative score from this set of ten BQs. The former took on the most BQs from this first set of ten while the latter earned a perfect score on BQ8 which focused on one of my signature topic: how to properly dissect an Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to identify its six components, not of all six which may be present.

Manny is also the holder of the highest score on the Online and Computer Essentials Exam, which was at the same week as BQ3. Next semester, I'll de-conflict the two items. This semester, these two items kick off the first awards ceremony :-)

I opened this past Saturday's class session with a preview of the next two weeks as there is no classroom session next Saturday due to Thanksgiving Break. The next two weeks are not only a change of topic from Excel to PowerPoint but a transition from Phase 2 (analytical mindset and perseverance) to Phase 3 (performing and actualizing).

Afterwards, Philemon took the stage and proudly showcased Ethiopian History & Culture. Two weeks ago, Mary showcased 3 Ethiopian Landscapes. At the beginning of the semester as I inquired each student of his/her topic for A5 Slideshow Presentation, the two students whose ancestral homeland is Ethiopia -- both chose to sit in the same row without knowing each other -- both wanted the same topic. The motherly Mary narrowed her topic's focus, allowing the young man the topic. Philemon did not disappoint!

Walking through the transformation process of Philemon's draft slideshow to the final slideshow, I went beyond the usual advice from past and illustrated (a) the deliberate use of alternating background color themes, (b) cropping an image to a different shape and even have an image be partially off the slide so multiple images can occupy the same slide harmoniously, and (c) using the same slide transition but different effect options so the slideshow maintains coherence but still has variety. 

This is not the first time a student presented Ethiopia as his A5. I showcased the transformed example of that slideshow from ten years ago. The key advice illustrated are (d) incorporation of an integral color from the theme (four colors of the Ethiopian flag) as the central color of each non-opening/concluding slide; (e) expert use of (i) congruent animation effect to each image, (ii) multiple motion paths to point the focus to a specific portion of an image/map, (iii) employing different entrance/appearing and exit/disappearing effects on the same object to give visual appearance of morphing; and (f) the use of all representative slide transition/animation effect and motion paths from each slide on the concluding slide to bolster a sense of reiteration and summary.

The remaining of the class session saw students work on their IS101 coursework. After Wayne completed the in-person portion of BQ11, I reviewed his BQ11 with him. BQ11 contains another rare gem that I came across during my teaching in higher education:

How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking

By Mat Honan for Wired.com

Aug 6, 2012 8:01 PM

For your reading convenience, instead of using the link above to view the webpage with ads, I extracted the text and three images into a PDF and attached it to Discussion 11 in Week 11: 11/11/2023 in Canvas.

Before the class session ended, Manassiya made my day as the quiet young lady qualified and took MO-110 Word ahead of schedule and passed. Well done Manassiya for leading IS101-3003 into Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certifications :-)

Yesterday as I reviewed the A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer submitted thus far, I see Anisley (Ani) emerged as the highest score earner.

This evening, Wayne met me at school to take on MO-110 Word and generated three highlights: (1) the former Navy Man earned a very highest score and has a good chance of staying at the pole position, (2) Wayne gained confidence and will return Wednesday evening to take on MO-210 Excel, and (3) seeing Wayne's performance and confidence, I know he will also conquer MO-310 PowerPoint but more importantly, I can see the former Navy Man live up to his declaration from this past Saturday's class -- Wayne will pass all seven MOS certification exams and hit a MOS Homerun. What a shining example to kick off Phase 3 ^_^

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Philemon's other slides are so vibrant, appetizing, and awe-inspiring, it would be a crime to not share them:

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As I was transforming Philemon's draft version slideshow, revisiting the previous Ethiopia slideshow from ten years ago, and reacquainting myself with the land formerly known as Abyssinia, I came across this video: This is Ethiopia: the Country Frozen in Time.

Students, for commenting on this blog post: 

After reading Mat Honan's Epic Hack -- see PDF attached to Discussion 11 in Week 11: 11/11/2023 -- please give your thoughts on how you would bolster your end-user cybersecurity practices (i.e. how would you improve the way you manage your credentials to protect your devices and data)?

Other Chart Types, Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer, Grade Breakdown

This past Saturday, November 11 was Veterans Day -- thank you for your service :-)

Wayne saved Bonus Quiz 3 from being neglected this semester as the former Navy Man took on BQ3 before class began. I officially kicked off the class session with my usual greeting but this time, I also outlined the different components that contribute to a student's IS101-3003 grade.

Roberto then paved out The Road to Competitive Pokémon as his A5 Slideshow Presentation. During my walk through the transformation process from his draft slideshow version to the final slideshow version, I pointed out the radar charts Roberto utilized to illustrate various characteristics (e.g. health point, attack, speed, defense) of a Pokémon character.

In last Saturday's Lecture 4: Key Excel and Spreadsheet Analysis Concepts (Part 2 of 2), I mentioned that for uncommon analysis or perspective, one may see chart types other than a pie, line, bar, or column. Roberto's use of radar chart type in his A5 is quite timely.

Another chart type is a heat map. The best example of a heat map I have seen was from four years ago:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90572489/u-s-election-maps-are-wildly-misleading-so-this-designer-fixed-them

As it not only illustrates its intended message well, but corrects an intentional misrepresentation!

Philemon stepped up do his A5 next Saturday and I gave the remaining class session for students to work on their IS101 coursework. Wayne sent in his A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer, joining two classmates.

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A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer is one of the two capstone assignments. The spreadsheet analysis accounts for 80% of the assignment and is mostly quantitative in nature. The remaining 20%, the trailer, consists of three topics: (A) exponential (non-linear) growth, (B) brief ccTLD look up, (C) perspective interpretation and qualitative communication. (C) is one of the oldest rare gem I came across during my teaching in higher education. It may be a decade and a half old, Chancellor Rogers' brilliance is timeless ^_^

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Students,

In your comment to this post, please share your thoughts on:

(i) Have you seen any other types of chart besides pie, line, bar, column, radar, heat map used? If so, please share that/those example(s), if not, did you use the correct chart types on A6?

(ii) What did you think of the spreadsheet analysis portion of A6?

(iii) What did you think of the trailer portion of A6?

Two Signatures: Weighted... & Which Chart Type, Fun with Functions and More

Before this past Saturday's class, Manuel C. (Manny) brought a smile to my face with his email portion of Bonus Quiz 10. Too bad he had to miss class and the in-person portion of BQ10. However, my excitement for the second half of Lecture 4: Key Excel and Spreadsheet Analysis Concepts (Part 2 of 2) brought the smile back :-)

Mary kicked off the class session with her presentation on 3 Ethiopian Landscapes. This is not the first student of mine who traces his/her roots to Ethiopia. This is not the first time a student of mine showcased Ethiopia as his/her A5 Slideshow Presentation. This is not even the first time I have two students that hailed from the same country in the same class. But this is the first time that both students wanted to a presentation on their ancestral county. The motherly Mary focused on three unique landscapes, allowing her younger classmate to focus on their common motherland.

After walking through the polishing process of Mary's draft slideshow to final slideshow, I engage the class with four scenarios in my Weighted vs. Straight Average exercises. Anisley, Wayne, and Roberto actively participated while others observed and barely spoke up. I will post the starting point of the four scenarios as the central image in a later blog post for students to walk through again.

I concluded my final formal lecture presentation with a decision tree in choosing the appropriate type of chart to use for a given scenario. Barring specialized analysis or perspectives, most charting needs can be satisfied with either a (i) pie chart (when showing contribution to a whole or breakdown from a whole), (ii) line chart (when the order of data elements matter), and when neither (a) or (b) applies, then the scenario is likely a comparison for which either (iii) bar (horizontal beams) or (iv) column (vertical beams) would the be the most appropriate type of chart to use.

The remaining classroom time saw students working on their coursework. Majority of the students completed their Fun with Functions and More Workbook working toward the end of Chapter 5 Microsoft Excel. A few students have even began working on A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer.

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The three Ethiopian landscapes are so stunning, majestic, and grand, I must help Mary showcase them:

 (1) Dallol, Afar Region: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallol_(hydrothermal_system)

 (2) Lake Tana: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Tana

 (3) Simien Mountain National Park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simien_Mountains_National_Park

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Students,

The Digital Literacy program director created the Fun with Functions and More Workbook to  supplement Chapter 5 Microsoft Excel, hone your thinking and execution skills, and help you prepare for the MO-210 Excel certification exam. The program director also made three YouTube videos:

Excel TEXTJOIN and CONCAT functions (5 min 19 sec)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CjPevDVH7o

Using the SUMIF function (5 min 10 sec)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slouiGBvhwQ

UNIQUE function in Excel (2 min 5 sec)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmKZvrA87nY

In your comment to this post, please share your thoughts on:

 (A) How was your experience in doing the Fun with Functions and More Workbook?

 (B) Did you find his three YouTube videos helpful?

 (C) With Fun with Functions and More Workbook and what you have done in Chapter 5 Microsoft Excel thus far, how do you feel about your mastery of Microsoft Excel?