Yesterday was momentous! Wayne became the first MOS Associate from IS101-3003, Fall 2023 ^_^
I kicked off the class session by welcoming students back from Thanksgiving Break and gave individual feedback to each student for their performance thus far. Valeria then took center stage and regaled the class with her Summer 2023: Atlántida, Uruguay to Las Vegas, U.S.A. for College. Her A5 Slideshow Presentation elicited Anisley (Ani) and Mary to share their shock when they arrived from the U.S. from their respective birth country. I concluded by sharing how I worked with Valeria bring her journey to life in a PowerPoint slideshow.
The second half the class session saw three students each taking a Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification exam. Wayne lead the class by taking on his third MOS certification exam. Upon passing MO-310 PowerPoint, the former Navy Man became the first MOS Associate from IS101-3003, Fall 2023. I am so proud of him. What excites me even more is with his ahead of schedule MOS Associate, Wayne definitely has the luxury to pursue more MOS certifications. I know his ambition will take full advantage of that luxury.
Ani took on MO-110 Word and end up eclipsing Wayne's very high score on MO-110. Ani's score tied with Wayne's even higher score on MO-210 Excel. Roberto also conquered MO-110 Word before the class session ended. Mary stayed in the classroom until the evening. After hours of working in LabSim, instead of going home, the hardworking mom took on MO-110 and prevailed. I am gleaming with pride :-)
As students begin to take on certification exams, we also approach the second and final capstone assignment: A7 Mail Merge. Object Linking & Embedding (OLE) may be the central mechanical concepts of the assignment, the quintessential purpose is to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their independence.
From reading the PDF for A7 (posted in Week 14 in Canvas), will my students distill what they need to produce for A7's business scenario?
(A) Will my students follow one of my hints in the PDF and bravely use the Mail Merge wizard in Word?
(B) Will my students analyze the two documents for A7 and use them to produce what A7 requires?
(C) Will my students use the image below and fully comprehend OLE?
Click on the image for a larger/clearer view
Toward the beginning of this semester, two casinos corporations were hit with ransomware attacks. Now that both situations are out of the news, please watch this 22:07 min video from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqD-ATqw3js
View discretion is advised as the 22-min video contains mature 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.
Back in the Spring 2017 semester, I shared with my students that 2016 had the highest number of ransomware attacks in recent years and a student shared with me that he had never heard of the term 'ransomware'. From the above video, I learned about the three major developments that likely contributed to that surge in 2016. Thank you John Oliver!
What I also appreciate are his three advices:
(1) Enable multi-factor authentication to make hacking your accounts less easy for bad actors. Remember Mat Honan's Epic Hack?
(2) Keep your computer update to date with antivirus software & operating system fixes, patches, and updates.
(3) Don't click on suspicious links or emails.
Students, please share your professional thoughts on:
(i) How was your experience in doing A7 Mail Merge? Instead of relying on click-by-click instructions, did you identify and conceptualize what you need to produce to meet the business scenario for A7?
(ii) Do you think the three major developments mentioned in John Oliver's video that help ransomware attacks proliferate are still relevant today? Other thoughts you have from watching the video?
(iii) How do you see yourself finishing IS101-3003, Fall 2023?
i) A7 Mail Merge was one of the rougher assignments this semester. I had to learn how to use the feature, then figure out a way to solve the problem that was presented. It took me much longer to figure it out than the other assignments.
ReplyDelete(ii) The three major developments mentioned in John Oliver's video are still relevant today. That video is 2 years old I can count at least 3 or 4 major ransomware attacks that have hit the news since then. This video reminds me to back up everything on my computer to a physical hard drive periodically so if my computer is ever compromised, I won't feel the need to pay to have my documents and files back.
(iii) I see myself finishing IS101-3003, Fall 2023 pretty strong. There is just 1 week left, and I have finished all mandatory assignments and passed the certification exams required for the course. I would consider this a successful semester.
1. I haven't been able to finish A7, I started but couldn't complete the assignment. It's ironic though... I use mail merge at work all the time, not just for clients' notices but also to create labels for products.
ReplyDelete2. John Oliver is transcendent! I can watch videos from 5-7 years ago and he is still current with his comments and vision. I believe this video is no different. I once lost valuable information and learned to hard way to always have more than one backup.
3. I think I will complete the semester in good standing. I enjoyed this class very much. Having a supporting teacher made the difference. I felt I was able to work on the assignments and take the tests on time. I still need to get the PowerPoint test to achieve the MOS Associate! Overall it was one of the best classes I've taken.
(i) Mail merge was a bit of a struggle to find but once I did, I felt relieved. Even though I did it incorrectly, it feels good to know that I did something right.
ReplyDelete(ii) They are definitely relevant today. I wish more services would offer a two steps confirmation when you want to do something.
(iii). I think I ended the semester quite well. I'm satisfied with my progress thus far. I actually learn something and even earned MOS certifications. Even though it's not as much as my other classmates, I'm proud of myself.
1) To be honest, I hadn't have time to look at A7 Mail Merge.
ReplyDelete2) The major developments mentioned in John Oliver's video are still relevant today. I wish my job had this two-step authenticator set up in place before the cyber-attack took place. Maybe it would have prevented the cyber-attack or maybe not. But at the time, it gave all of us a big wakeup call we needed. This why from now on, I am always going to have more than one backup.
3) I think I will complete the semester in good standing. I enjoyed this class very much. Having a supporting teacher made the difference for me. I am forever grateful.
1) A7 Mail Merge was a difficult assignment for me overall. Once I got the hang of things I was able to complete the assignment with ease. Although I did have a rough start trying to figure out the directions.
ReplyDelete2) I believe the major developments mentioned in John Oliver's video are helpful today and will be in the future. After watching this video it made me realize I'm not safe from a cyber attack unless I use his major developments. His developments almost guarantee your information can be safe from hackers and cyber-attacks.
3) I have already almost summed up the semester. Although I did end the semester off with discouragement I am coming back with a vengeance and will be finishing strong.