To educate, inform, inspire

Chromebook

December 25, 2013 - Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

Knowing this post will be visible on Christmas Day, I thought it might be appropriate to discuss the latest device I have obtained – my Acer C720 Chromebook. One of my grandsons is using Chromebooks in school and it seemed appropriate to get one in case he ever needed to […]

Many thanks for helping my son’s family

December 4, 2013 - Learning , Who knew? - by Mark - 1 Comment

It is hard to believe it was only a few weeks ago that my son and his family lost everything to the EF4 tornado which passed through Washington, IL. While I am still amazed at the devastating power of that storm, I am more amazed by the help and generosity […]

My first MOOC

November 6, 2013 - Adobe , Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

I recently completed my first MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). This was created by Adobe and titled their Train the Trainer course. It ran from July 21 through October 21. By successfully completing this course, I have earned the designation Adobe Education Trainer. I have included that badge in the […]

Book Review – the Modern Web

October 9, 2013 - Learning , Web - by Mark - No Comments

I recently had the opportunity to review the following book. My review was also published in the October, 2013 issue of CHOICE. For those who do not have ready access to that resource, I provide the copy below. Gasston, Peter. The modern Web: multi-device Web development with HTML5, CSS3, and […]

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 […]

Accessibility Summit 2013

September 18, 2013 - Learning , Web - by Mark - 2 Comments

I had the opportunity to participate in the 2013 Accessibility Summit (online) on September 10 and 11, 2013. Although the focus was on web accessibility, accessibility on mobile devices was also covered. It was a great learning opportunity (without having to travel). It was also wonderful to connect with individuals […]

Summer 2013 Reflections

September 4, 2013 - Adobe , Learning , Technology , Travel , Web , WOW - by Mark - No Comments

As the fall, 2013 semester begins, I thought it appropriate to reflect on what happened during the summer. As was the case last year, this was an incredibly busy time for me. Not only did I provide a number of “train the trainer” sessions throughout the country, I helped run […]

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 […]

Book review – compiler design

May 25, 2013 - Learning , Technology - by Mark - No Comments

My review of the following book appeared in the June, 2013 issue of CHOICE. I thought I would provide a copy on this weblog for those who do not have ready access to the above resource. Compiler design: analysis and transformation, by Helmut Seidl, Reinhard Wilhelm, and Sebastian Hack. Springer, […]

Book review – Instant LESS CSS Preprocessor How-to by Alex Libby

May 16, 2013 - Learning , Web - by Mark - No Comments

I recently received a copy of Instant LESS CSS Pre-processor by Alex Libby from the publisher and thought it appropriate to post a quick review. The book is a short read (81 pages) and comes with a number of code samples.

Sir Ken Robinson’s thoughts on education

January 4, 2013 - Learning - by Mark - 1 Comment

As we begin 2013, I think it appropriate to revisit what we do on a daily basis. I really like this video and am using it as a starting point for discussion. My colleague Renaldo Lawrence also posted this link on his weblog. I suggest we start by eliminating the […]