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Archive for the ‘internet’ Category

I finished my Portfolio and turned it in for grading.  My Portfolio was made of…

• Two Cover Sheets
• Employer Authorization form (Because my portfolio covered a Baylor Project)
• Table of Contents
• 8 Page Essay covering any trend in IT. I came up with…
  “Open Source Software as a Communication Bridge in IT Project Management”
• Reference Page with a list of APA formatted Citations for all references used
• Competency Matrix with 16 listed competencies relating to the Essay.
• Exhibit 1: MySQL Open Source Database used in project as Web Site data storage.
• Exhibit 2: PDF and iCal files of Project Schedule made as an addition to the website for offline schedule verifications
• Exhibit 3: XHTML Source code showing both PHP and hand created code instructing users on how to setup IP printers on OS X
• Exhibit 4: WordPress Theme developed to maintain look and feel of other internal Baylor websites.  Included Text from the CSS file for the presentational layout, as well as the whole theme file zipped up for review by the grader.

Looking back on it now, it seems like a long list.  But I enjoyed getting all the parts together.  Lucky for me I had a past project that I lead and had intimate experience with.  Using that project, I built my portfolio files and data during July and August and then finished the Essay in 2 days. 

The class has twelve grading rubrics ranging from 1.0-4.0 and an overall 3.0 is the minimum passing standard.  Overall, I was happy with what I had submitted, and while I wasn’t expecting a 4.0 on this grade, I felt confident that I wouldn’t have to resubmit.  Of the small concerns I had about the submission, Dr. Teston gave me some good viewpoints so I felt better as I waited to find out my grade.  

So I checked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, waiting to see my grade.  Nothing showed up and I went home after work, ready for the weekend.  Late Friday Night I was surfing around and ran out of interesting places to look at on the internet (Funny huh).  I decided to look one last time at the TaskStream website where my portfolio was being graded.  The Class came up with a lock on it, and I clicked on the Submission Tab.  And there, at 7:15 PM, my Grader had posted my grade.  Dun Dun Dun Dun!!!!!

3.92...
Wait... What...

!!!3.92!!!

3.92 out of 4.0 Roughly equal to a 98%.  Santa Vaca!!! Not only did I pass, I passed right up at the top.  I let out a whoop of triumph and scared Kaylene.  Luckily Joey didn’t wake up so she didn’t automatically kick me.  What a Triumph.  As you can tell, I’m proud of myself.

So I have till the end of October to finish some more classes.  Since I’ve been focusing on Non Tech Classes at the beginning of the term, I’m thinking of finishing the Web Tecnologies and Client Systems Certification. 

Classes Finished:
Term 1:

• Education without Boundaries
• Leadership and Professionalism
• Quantitative Literacy

Term 2:

• Foundations of Language and Communication
• Quantitative Reasoning and Communication
• IT Fundamentals I
• Rhetorical and Critical Writing
• IT Fundamentals II
• IT Fundamentals III
• Programming Fundamentals

Term 3:

• Networks I
• Ethics Part I
• Ethics Part II
• Social Science Part II: American History & Government, World History and Geography

Term 4:

• Natural Science Part II:Concepts & Theories-Life, Earth, Space, and Physical Sciences
• Project Management
• IT Portfolio

Classes still to pass:

Classes with Technical Certifications:

• Client Systems
• Web Technologies
• Programming Fundamentals II
• Database I
• Security I

Non-Technical Classes:

• Research, Writing and Oral Presentation
• Reasoning & Problem Solving in the Context of the Humanities Part I
• Reasoning & Problem Solving in the Context of the Humanities Part II
• Technical Writing
• IT Capstone Project

Kevin Steele

Here’s a current list of Classes I’ve finished and what I’ve got left over.  I just finished MY Natural Sciences II and Project Management coursework.  I’ve now got to finish my Portfolio Project before deciding what classes to choose for the rest of my term.  So I’m Halfway through my 3 year goal and on track.  Yay Me!!!

Classes Finished:
Term 1:
Education without Boundaries
Leadership and Professionalism
Quantitative Literacy
Term 2:
Foundations of Language and Communication
Quantitative Reasoning and Communication
IT Fundamentals I
IT Fundamentals II
IT Fundamentals III
Programming Fundamentals
Term 3:
Networks I
Ethics Part I
Ethics Part II
Social Science Part II: American History & Government, World History and Geography
Term 4:
Natural Science Part II:Concepts & Theories-Life, Earth, Space, and Physical Sciences
Project Management

Classes still to pass:
IT Portfolio
Client Systems
Web Technologies
Research, Writing and Oral Presentation
Rhetorical and Critical Writing
Reasoning & Problem Solving in the Context of the Humanities Part I
Reasoning & Problem Solving in the Context of the Humanities Part II
Programming Fundamentals II
Database I
Security I
Technical Writing
IT Capstone Project

Kevin Steele

Kaylene regularly posts on the family blog at jms.steelelife.com and on her sidebar she has polls that she created.  Yesterday she was creating a new post and I looked over at her administration page.  The polls sections had her latest title in, and since I hadn’t looked at the site yet (Yes, bad bad Kevin) I read the title and it looked like this.

Name your Favorite Coloured Family….

 WHAT!!!!  I looked over at my wife and said something to this affect “Well, I prefer the Cosby’s but are you sure that this is an appropriate thing to be polling about???”  She didn’t seem to worried about it…  She then pointed out that the title actually says “What’s your favorite Color Family”….  Like Reds, Blues or Greens.  DOH.  I should have payed more attention. 

And then again,  it’s not always me not paying attention.  She posted a nice post about her and little things that make up her life.  She had a section on family and posted this (It has since been changed). 

“Kevin, my husband for 7 years and my best friend for almost 8 now, he’s tall and strong, and takes good care of me, especially late at night.”

I read this and started laughing.  I read it out loud to her and she blushed, laughed, and quickly edited it out.  Too bad I have it here in my blog.  Mwa hahahaha.  Actually, the comment is about how late at night, I’ll go check on noises, get her Tylenol, etc…  Nightly though, it’s about how I switch sides with her to make it easier to feed Joseph.  I’m used to it that from a fairly dead sleep, I can get up and switch bedsides with out too much noise or hubub.  Her original comment was innocent enough though.

 I love you Kaylene.  Thanks for putting up with my misreadings.

This was a freelance submission looking through the eyes of a tank driver at Tieneman Square in China.

I’m going to post a bunch of videos with summaries, and maybe my thoughts.  Either way I’m only posting videos which struck a nerve with me.  That may be a lot, but I still recommend you search out other items at PangeaDay.org.

More Coming up…

You may have noticed in earlier posts that I reference talks given by different people at a conference called TED.  TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design.  This yearly conference is filled with many people talking about their ideas.  These talks include pictures of penguins from an Antarctic trip, Learning about variations on a theme by a teenage piano player, funny pundits, Google, heart surgeons, Al Gore, and more.  The theme of TED.com and the videos there is “Ideas Worth Spreading”.  I have always loved great ideas.  To quote a part of  TED.com.

“Consider:

• An idea can be created out of nothing except an inspired imagination.
• An idea weighs nothing.
• It can be transferred across the world at the speed of light for virtually zero cost.
• And yet an idea, when received by a prepared mind, can have extraordinary impact.
• It can reshape that mind’s view of the world.
• It can dramatically alter the behavior of the mind’s owner.
• It can cause the mind to pass on the idea to others. “

So, please understand that sometimes, I’m just trying to share and idea, pass it along.  I don’t expect you to agree or disagree, I just want to share ideas that affected my perspective.  If you have or find great ideas, please, please, please share.

Kevin Steele