To educate, inform, inspire

2015 Illinois Web Design Contest

April 29, 2015 - Learning , Web , WOW - by Mark - No Comments

I had the great opportunity to supervise the Illinois Web Design contest in Springfield on April 23 – 24, 2015. As always, our contest focuses on professionalism (we are WebProfessionals.org after all), current web design job skills, and industry best practices to help students be better prepared to enter the […]

Tagged: Web Design Contest

Office Mix

March 18, 2015 - Learning , Technology , Windows - by Mark - 1 Comment

Assuming you are running MS-PowerPoint 2013 or higher, you might want to try Office Mix. It is a free add-on for PowerPoint which allows you to “create and share interactive online videos.” You can include screen captures, screen recordings, polls, and quizzes. You can upload your completed presentation to the […]

Screen Capture Utilities

March 4, 2015 - Adobe , ICC , Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

I have been helping a peer with one of their online classes this semester. They expressed an interest in learning about different tools to record the screen. I decided to take a different approach this week and provide this document I created for their use. This is an alternative approach […]

Issues > Concerns > Problems

January 7, 2015 - ICC , Learning , Student Examples - by Mark - 8 Comments

I have been debating whether to post this “rant” or not. Obviously, you know what I finally decided. Those who pay attention to detail should note that I first drafted this post in early 2011. Yes, 2011 – as in 4 years ago. It is now 2015 and I have […]

Competency Based Education

December 24, 2014 - ICC , Learning - by Mark - No Comments

Students in our CMWEB program will soon be experiencing changes in the overall structure of our classes. I thought it would be worthwhile to provide an overview of why we will be making these changes and the implications. Essentially, we will be moving our curriculum into a competency based format. […]

Fall 2014 Semester Reflections

December 17, 2014 - ICC , Learning - by Mark - 1 Comment

The Fall, 2014 semester is officially over. Happy Holidays to all who are reading this post. I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate this weblog post to my reflections on the semester which just ended. It has been an intense semester. We are also going to be making some […]

Tornado – 1 year later

November 19, 2014 - Huh? , Learning , Who knew? , WOW - by Mark - No Comments

I find it very hard to believe it has been on year since the EF 5 tornado passed through Washington, Illinois. I put together some notes using the Luca Project. I find this a most interesting tool. The link above points to my original post on this project. I hope […]

Teaching a MOOC – results

November 12, 2014 - Adobe , Learning , Technology , Web - by Mark - No Comments

Now that the web design MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) is concluded, I wanted to share some final thoughts. I also thought it would be appropriate to indicate overall success rates.

Teaching a MOOC – technologies used

November 5, 2014 - Adobe , Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

In my last weblog post, I focused on an overview of the Adobe Web Design MOOC which I recently taught. In this post, I thought I would focus on the technologies employed. One insight which came through loud and clear is that one must be highly fluent with a number […]

Behind the Screen – Adobe Acrobat

September 3, 2014 - Adobe , Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

When I have the time, I try to provide feedback in the way of audio comments on student assignments. As we started the fall, 2014 semester, I also did this. Comments I have received in past semesters (from students) indicated that they prefer this sort of feedback. They have told […]

How to prosper in class

August 20, 2014 - ICC , Learning - by Mark - No Comments

We are just starting the Fall, 2014 semester (this is only the third day). I thought this might be an appropriate time to share some insights with students who are reading this weblog. There are a number of things that make me go hmmm… Consider this a slightly different take. […]

The Deck Project

August 11, 2014 - Adobe , General , Learning - by Mark - No Comments

In case you are wondering what I did over the weekend, I thought you might enjoy this time lapse video. Essentially, I compressed 1 entire day’s work into 15 seconds. My son and I had a lot of help installing the flooring on his new deck. Great opportunity to work […]

Adobe Captivate 8 First Look

June 18, 2014 - Adobe , Learning , Web - by Mark - 4 Comments

I have been using Adobe Captivate for a number of years (and have come to rely on it more and more in the past couple of releases). I recently obtained a copy of Captivate 8 (the latest version). I thought it would be appropriate to take a few moments and […]

Behind the screen – SnagIt

April 16, 2014 - Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

I am continuing to focus on various tools I use to help students better understand various concepts and tools. This week, I focus on SnagIt (from Techsmith). Essentially, this tool allows you to take screen captures. Ok, I already know how to use the PrntScrn key (including the Alt+PrtScrn to […]

Books Read in 2013

January 1, 2014 - Learning - by Mark - 5 Comments

I thought it might be useful for students and others to know which books I read during 2013. Here is the list in chronological order. Note that I only list those books I have finished (I have many others in progress). I try to read one book a week. The […]