Tag Archives: learning

Technology Tutorials

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I have been looking at creating a number of tutorials for my networking classes.  We don’t have enough time to cover some TCP/IP topics in class.  I was going to create the tutorials at school and make them available for my students however, I decided that it would be better to make them available to anyone.

The tutorials will generally be under ten minutes and cover a small topic.  There will be a lot of these short videos. I think that I will get more students to watch if they can do it in short segments.

 

I started with an introduction and then the first tutorial.

I hope that they are useful.

What will fall bring at school?

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It looks like we will have good enrollment this fall at school. My second year classes are still lower than I would expect. Maybe we lost more last year than in the past.

I spent part of today recording lectures for Internet classes. Two of my classes have new books.

Because or the STEP initiative at school, we are trying to make students more responsible for their learning. Dr. Sanderson will like that. I am going to introduce the engineering notebook to my networking classes. I would use it when I taught Engineering Technology but have gotten away from the notebooks for Computer Science majors. Hopefully, I can get them to write down what they do.

I am also thinking about making my students turn off the computer for the first part of lab. Especially in Web Programming and Network Infrastructures classes. They want to start building without planning. That usually gets them into trouble.

The Cisco classes do not worry me. Those that make it through the first semester usually don’t have a problem finishing. I had a good group finish.

The school has ordered new computers for one of the network labs. I will need to come in and install them. We don’t let computer services in the lab except for warranty repairs and they like it that way.

Well, I’ve rambled on for a while as my CSCI 1100 student are taking their final. I only lost one student this time. She only came the first night. It looks like everyone will pass. It’s the best concepts class I’ve had in a long time. Much more motivated than most. Night students usually are. Summer students taking a half term class are also more motivated so combining the two makes a good class.

A ship in port is safe

A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. I want all the youngsters to sail out to sea and be good ships. — G. Hopper

I opened with a quote from Grace Hopper. This could and maybe should be a chapter in a book on education. Admiral Hopper retired from the Navy at age 80. She was a pioneer in the field of computing and is credited with discovering the first computer ?bug?, a moth that was stuck in a relay the Mark 2 .

As I read the quote, a couple or things strike me. First, it is a challenge to take risks. We are risk averse, at least where it is important. People take risks all the time. We go skiing, bungee jumping, motorcycling and sky diving yet we are afraid to take risks that are not life threatening. I am told by students all the time, ?What if I fail??, ?What if it doesn’t work??. Why are we afraid of the challenge?

I have taken a number of risks over the years, I started a business, I took jobs that I really was not qualified for, and most of them paid off. I also was afraid to take a number of risks, not trusting my instincts or my own abilities. Looking back, if I regret anything, it was the times that I stayed in port, looking for that safe harbor.

I encourage everyone to try things, it’s OK to fail. Just learn from your failures.

Secondly, be good ships. What does that mean? I think it means to act in an ethical manner. Don’t abuse or mistreat others. Think about the consequences of what you are doing and how it will affect others.