Course Grading, Job Hunting Tips and Reminders, Reaching for the Stars

Just a few hours ago, Tsz took and passed MO-500 Access, taking his first step toward earning his Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Expert distinction; I am so proud of this young man for pursuing above and beyond what is required for IS101 ^_^

The day after my previous blog post, Androw earned his MO-200 Excel certificate. During class session this past Saturday, Heather and Jan earned their MO-300 PowerPoint certificates becoming the third and fourth MOS Associates from IS101-3003, Spring 2023 while Elijah took and excelled in BQ12 – Microsoft Excel 2019 and Spreadsheet Analysis and BQ13 – Apex of Excel, dethroning the previous highest scores for both bonus quizzes and boosting his overall course grade, well done Elijah!

Students took advantage of open class session to catch-up with their LabSim work and review their capstone assignments with me. Upon successful review of their A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer and A7 Mail Merge, students will receive their scores. Two days later, Jimena also took on and passed MO-200 Excel, joining Androw.

Of the nine students who are still actively participating, three have completed 95% of the required coursework for IS101 with only threaded discussions & blogging outstanding for the next three weeks.

Earlier during the semester, the opening task of A3 Tailored Cover Letter and Resume saw students send in their A3 Job Hunt where students sent in their answers to the 13 tips and reminders to the first of second article: 7 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Your Job Search.

The second article and its 10-minute video were mentioned in my blog post First Highest Score Holder and Artificial Intelligence. As a follow-up to the topic of artificial intelligence, this video from John Oliver was released three weeks after that blog post as ChatGPT from OpenAI shed a huge spotlight on artificial intelligence and academic independence/integrity. Since then, Tsz mentioned that he checked out ChatGPT.

Note: Viewer discretion is advised as the 27 min 52 sec video contains strong 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.

Diego and Jimena are slated to present their A5 Slideshow Presentation this coming Saturday. I look forward to meeting Jimena in-person and she meeting her classmates in-person. I wonder who will joining Tsz in reaching for the stars?

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Students,

In your comment, please

(A) Choose a unique tip/reminder to share your experience based on it with the world. If another student has used that tip/reminder in his/her comment to this blog post, you will need to choose another. Be sure to list your Tip (include the leading zero) and Reminder (e.g. T04 Polishing your resume, not T4 polishing your resume), have a blank line then share your experience.

and

(B) Share what you have learned and/or thoughts on John Oliver's 27 min 52 sec video. I learned the difference between Narrow AI and General AI. I agree with what Erick Brynjolfsson said about "affected not replaced". I like the AI-generated song on cats with Eminem's voice but I love John Oliver's rap even better! I hope John Oliver's rap was human-generated :-)

Capstones and Second MOS Associate!

Earlier this evening, Elijah took and passed MO-300 PowerPoint ahead of schedule, becoming the second MOS Associate from IS101-3003, Spring 2023 :-) He stayed in the classroom so I can walk him through his capstone assignments: A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer and A7 Mail Merge using Object Linking & Embedding (OLE). I will do the same for his classmates one-on-one beginning this Saturday after they take their MO-300 ^_^

This past Saturday's class session launched with Bonus Quiz 11A – The Internet, Granny, Bob, Vint, and Tim. Upon reviewing it and BQ11B – Mat Honan’s Epic Hack, Heather emerged as the lone holder of the highest score for BQ11, heavily helped by her succinct and thorough answer in educating someone who has not read "How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking" by Mat Honan, how the social engineering feat was accomplished.

BQ2 through BQ11 form the longest series of bonus quizzes. At the end of this run, Elijah achieved the highest cumulative score, Tsz garnered the most occurrences where he scored the highest -- more than one student can earn the highest -- score on a given bonus quiz, Heather missed catching up to either gentleman by half a point or one occurrence, and Linette and Jan earned honorable mention by having participated in all ten.

After a quick showcase of the leaderboard and explaining how each student has at least one safety net for the two capstone assignments, I gave the majority of the class session to students for them to catch up and move ahead. Linette took and passed MO-200 Excel and Tsz lived up to his word as the first student to take on BQ12 – Microsoft Excel 2019 and Spreadsheet Analysis and BQ13 – Apex of Excel -- collectively equaling the total points of BQ2 through BQ11, in an attempt to double his A6 score!

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Back to this evening,

As Elijah left the classroom, he shared that he will use the next three days to prepare for BQ12 & BQ13 and take them on Saturday. I shared with him that this is the second time that he bested the previous highest score on a MOS certification exam by a few points. I wonder he would do the same with BQ12 & 13... He also shared the certifications he acquired this semester outside of IS101, very nice Elijah :-)

Students,

In your comment, please share 

(A) Your thoughts on, from BQ2 through BQ11, whether or not you have improved in your preparation, comprehension, and communication of a subject matter to someone who do not yet have an understanding of that subject matter?

(B) What changes would you make in your end-user cybersecurity practices/behaviors after reading Mat Honan's Epic Hack article?

(C) An unique example of non-linear system in life you have seen. For example, from A6, the (3 min 26 sec) Test Tube with David Suzuki video talks about exponential growth, which is non-linear. If you are not sure what non-linear means, a quick Google search can help.

(D) What did you think of the way Chancellor James Rogers answered the TV anchor? If you need a refresher, please read Memorandum.pdf from A6.

(E) How was your experience in doing A7 on your own (i.e. without step-by-step instructions)?

Second Milestone Marker and First MOS Associate!

I deferred publishing this post for the first breakout student of IS101-3003, Spring 2023 :-)

My quick talk on "Evolving Mindset, Habits, and Horizon" forced itself to the front of this past Saturday's class session.

• Instead of what do I need to complete to pass the course? --> How much can I achieve? What can I showcase on my website and blog? How many Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certificates can I earn?

• Rather than "When is this due?" --> Ask "When can I start?", answer is "As soon as you can".

• Not just MOS Associate (what's required for IS101) --> MOS Expert then MOS Homerun!

Afterwards, students took Bonus Quiz 10A Bonus Quiz 10A – Internet Search Engine. When combined with BQ10B $21.5 Million Business Email Scam, Elijah emerged as the highest score holder. After the review of the answers, I gave a quick a demo on two commonly used skills in Microsoft Excel: freeze pane and highlight non-adjacent cell ranges.

Before giving the class session for students to catch up, Tsz educated the class on How to Become a Drummer and lead the class in clapping. After he had a chance to fully use the practice guide for BQ12 & 13, the leader of the class took on BQ12 - Microsoft Excel 2019 and Spreadsheet Analysis and BQ13 - Apex of Excel.

As he left the classroom, the musical young man indicated that he will complete the required work to take MO-300 PowerPoint by three days after. Before Saturday ended, Tsz declared Microsoft Expert, Let's Go!!!

Earlier this evening, Tsz followed through with what he needed to complete, took and conquered MO-300 with the highest MOS exam score this semester in thus far, and became the first MOS Associate from IS101-3003, Spring 2023. I am so proud of him ^_^

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The evening before this past Saturday's class, Diego took and passed MO-200 Excel, joining Jan, Heather, Tsz, and Elijah. Bringing the proportion of students who are still actively participating and have reached the second milestone to half. I hope the remaining half will join them this coming Saturday.

From Bonus Quiz 10B's article:

Cinema Chain Sees Bad Movie Script Play Out As It Loses Millions In Email Scam

https://www.forbes.com/sites/martijngrooten/2018/11/12/cinema-chain-sees-bad-movie-script-play-out-as-it-loses-millions-in-email-scam/

Students,

In your comment, please provide your thoughts on whether the two Pathé chief officers should or should not have been fired. I am eager to hear your rationale.

Fun with Functions and More...

This past Saturday was the beginning of MO-200 Excel.

The class session began with Bonus Quiz 9A – SEO Hats, Techniques, and Consequences. When combined with BQ09B – ccTLD Hack and URL Parts Revisited, Heather, Elijah, and Tsz emerged as holders of the highest score ^_^

I had planned to walkthrough [Fun with Functions and More Workbook.xlsm] with the class but chose to give that time for some students to catch up their classmates.

At the designated time, Jan, Heather, and Tsz took and conquered the MO-200 with Tsz holding the highest score. Earlier this evening, Elijah did the same and eclipsed Saturday's highest score by several points. I wonder if any of his classmates will dethrone he who educated the class on Flight Control Systems.

In the past few days, the four conquerors of MO-200 also sent in their A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer. This first of two capstone assignments will heavily contribute to BQ12 – Microsoft Excel 2019 and Spreadsheet Analysis and BQ13 – Apex of Excel, to be given together and is worth an entire bonus letter grade for IS101-3003! Tsz exclaimed that he wants to take on BQ12 & 13, I'm stoked :-)

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Students,

In your comment, please share 

(A) Your experience on completing your [Fun with Functions and More Workbook.xlsm]

(B) Your thoughts on this 5 min 19 sec video: How This Island Got 10% of Their Money by Chance

(C) An unique example of ccTLD hack you can come up with. If you need a refresher: A Guide to Owning Code Top Level Domains (ccTLD)

(D) Your thoughts on this 5 min 21 sec video: The Enormous Spreadsheet that Runs the World's Mail

(E) Your feeling toward and mastery of Microsoft Excel now as compared to before IS101-3003.