To educate, inform, inspire

Behind the screen – Connect

March 5, 2014 - Adobe , ICC - by Mark - No Comments

I thought it might be helpful for students to see some of the numerous technologies I employ when teaching online classes. Although not many students have taken advantage of my online office hours this semester, I use the Adobe Connect environment to support my online office hours. Rather than just […]

Things which make me go hmm…

February 26, 2014 - ICC , Student Examples , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

Ok, this may be a bit of a rant, but I have experienced a number of situations in the past few months which really make me wonder. Some time ago (2011), I posted a set of notes on how to email your professor. [Note: although that rant was over 2 […]

Kali Linux

February 12, 2014 - ICC , Technology , Web - by Mark - No Comments

Each spring semester, I teach the CMWEB 270 class on web application security. Although we review a number of tools in that class, I also recommend students investigate packages of tools. One such tool is Kali Linux. This is a newer version of the venerable Backtrack Linux (which has been […]

Wifi Connections

February 5, 2014 - ICC , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

Periodically, students complain about the speed of wifi on our guest network at school. I thought I would take a few moments and document my observations. The tool I used was the Network Speedtest app on my Windows RT Surface (hey, I have to find some use for it these […]

MarkDown

December 18, 2013 - ICC , Technology , Web - by Mark - No Comments

As we conclude the fall, 2013 semester, I thought it was appropriate to focus several weblog posts on some “fundamentals” that students in various classes have been exposed to. As a start, I thought it appropriate to focus on Markdown syntax. At the start of the year, I also covered […]

October Technology Unconference

October 23, 2013 - ICC , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

Our October Technology Unconference featured Anton Peck of One Fire Media. He gave a great overview of augmented reality. I put together this short summary video for those unable to attend in person.

Technology Unconference September

September 25, 2013 - ICC , Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

We held the first technology unconference at Illinois Central College on September 24, 2013. We had approximately 30 in attendance. Given the impact of technology on teaching and learning and the rapid pace of change, I thought it might be appropriate to share a few notes about this event. Here […]

Badges and Moodle – part 3

August 21, 2013 - ICC , Learning , Technology , Web - by Mark - No Comments

This is the third (and final post) I have planned on badges. I may include a listing of badges oone can earn after the fall semester has concluded (this list will be a work in progress during the semester). I thought it might be helpful to see the actual process […]

Badges and Moodle – Part 2

August 14, 2013 - ICC , Learning , Technology , Web - by Mark - No Comments

Perhaps the hardest part of working with badges was actually creating them. I decided to use Adobe Illustrator since it generates vector based images (and I haven’t used it that much in the past). I thought those reading this might like to see the process I went through. If you […]

Badges and Moodle

August 7, 2013 - ICC , Learning , Technology , Web - by Mark - 2 Comments

I spent some time this summer investigating the potential use of badges in my courses for the coming fall, 2013 semester. I realize that some students will embrace this concept and others will not. I thought it appropriate to provide an overview of the process of working with earned badges […]

Unintended Consequences

December 8, 2012 - Huh? , ICC , Who knew? - by Mark - 2 Comments

It seems that each life experience brings something new to learn about and understand. Many of my students know that I recently had another round of eye surgery. I am hoping this time I will be able to regain some vision (fingers are crossed). That being said, this happened during […]

Flipped Classroom

September 29, 2012 - ICC , Technology - by Mark - 1 Comment

I had the distinct pleasure of collaborating with Kelly Crawford-Jones in a joint presentation on the “flipped classroom” at the second day of the ICC Great Technology Seminar (Sept. 28, 2012) in Peoria, IL. We both presented some information about how we are using flipped approaches in teaching various disciplines […]

Connection Revolution

September 22, 2012 - Adobe , ICC , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

I participated in the ICC Great Technology Seminar on Sept. 21, 2012. It was a great event and an excellent chance to discuss many aspects regarding innovative uses of technology in the classroom (and beyond). There were a limited number of seats in these sessions. I thought those who could […]

Using Twitter to Engage Students

February 23, 2012 - ICC , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

Brandy Thatcher and I gave a webinar on “Using Twitter to Engage Students” at the Growing Online Learning conference on Feb. 23, 2012. This was done in Elluminate/ Blackboard Collaborate. I have confirmed that the recording is now active and working. Recording of our webinar Copy of slides Since Elluminate […]

Tagged: Twitter

What is a Web Professional

January 4, 2012 - ICC , Technology , WOW - by Mark - 8 Comments

We are about to start the Spring, 2012 semester where I teach. Our college [Illinois Central College] has been recognized as a Web Professional Academy since 2006 (when the Web Professional Program began). Before we start the semester, I though I would reflect on what it means to me to […]