Blog
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Coding Club for All Ages
All in all, I recommend a few coding lessons for everyone – no matter your field of interest. There are many skills and experiences that are gained from coding that are transferable to all career fields and all ages.
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Google Isn’t Just Searching for the Answers – It’s Providing Them
in : Teachingby :
Hocking College is actively acquiring partnerships with technology brands and resources and we’re able to provide insight and experiences to other community colleges to help them adopt these resources into their curriculum on their own.
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Perseverance Should Never Be Underestimated
Will it be a career for the likes of Toyota, NASA, Virgin Galactic…who knows? But my hope is that exposure to these activities could help students shoot for the moon and if nothing else they’ll land among the stars.
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Jobs and Skills for Tomorrow
in : Teachingby :
What I find interesting is that these in demand jobs present opportunities for a wide range of of skills sets. Whether you have an interest in management, information technology, marketing, analytics, design, and more there’s a pathway and career available for the taking.
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No Code, Low Code & Honeycode
Honeycode is still in beta but if you enjoy working with tools like Excel and Access I have a feeling you’ll enjoy exploring what this tool has to offer in terms of opportunities to build quickly and bring those ideas to life.
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Learning the Skills for Your Next Job
in : Teachingby :
Now that we’ve reviewed some of the in-demand skills for today’s (and tomorrow’s) workforce, let’s review how we can gain those skills. Obviously, college is one option but thanks to the Internet and organizations like Google, AWS, Harvard University and HubSpot, it’s no longer the only option.
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Hypertext Markup Language or Hot Tomato Makes Lasagna?
New year, new students, new lessons at Logan Hocking Middle School’s Coding Club and we started with a refresher of things we learned from the Fall semester with a fun Kahoot! game. What I love about Kahoot! is that students and adults of all ages appreciate the platform for a little competition and prizes and…
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Day 2 of Developing on AWS training
in : Uncategorizedby :
Failures are important. I remind my students of that when they struggle with understanding or completing an assignment and during our labs I kept repeating that mantra to soothe my own ego and frustration on successfully completing the lab.
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Day 1 of Developing on AWS Training
While my preference for these types of training is in person, the virtual training is in real-time with the instructor and other participants so it is easier to stay engaged during the full-day training. An added bonus (or maybe a hindrance – depends on how you look at it) is the company of dogs looking…
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Round Two to Awesome Web Sh*t
As I start on this journey to learning and understanding feel free to join me on the Facebook Page Awesome Web Sh*t and follow along this blog to share and join in the fun of learning about Amazon Web Services and all the “awesome web shit” that we can do with it.
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I Thought My Path Was Keeping Me From My Students
In my notes for a mentoring course I’m taking, there’s a line I wrote almost as a confession. The prompt asked what I do beyond teaching that shapes students into professionals. I wrote that I advise a student program, and then this: my path is so different from theirs that I have trouble relating. What…
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The Custom AI Tool You Couldn’t Justify Last Year? It’s Buildable Now.
A week ago, Nexus was an idea. Today it’s a live, deployed AI agent. The story of building it is really a story about what your organization can now afford — and I want to show you the math. Not long ago, a custom software tool — something built for exactly your workflow, your data,…
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Every Generation Faces a Technology Shift
There’s no denying that the technology world is changing – fast. One analogy I keep coming back to is the show Mad Men, where entire pools of typists and clerks handled administrative work. As computers got smaller and cheaper, organizations adopted them for their speed and efficiency. The core skill of the clerk didn’t change…
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Build a Bit
Things I actually make — free for you to try. Bytes and Bits started small: Grab a Byte kept hungry students fed, and Read a Bit lent out the books that pushed them forward. Build a Bit is the workbench — the tools I build and put online free, so you can Stay, Study, Succeed…
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Bringing Cutting-Edge AI to the K-12 Classroom
As AI literacy becomes a foundational skill for the next generation, K-12 educators face a significant hurdle: the “Hardware Gap.” Traditionally, teaching machine learning required expensive, high-powered computers and complex software installations—resources that are often out of reach for many schools.
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Helping Students Master AWS SAA Exam Topics with PartyRock Apps
As an AWS educator, one of my ongoing challenges is helping students move beyond surface-level familiarity and achieve true mastery of the concepts tested on the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA) exam. While broad overviews are important, I’ve found that students often benefit most from focused, deep dives into individual topics—especially those aligned…
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How Rural Entrepreneurs Can Automate Their Business Workflows with AWS Messaging
Running a business in a rural community comes with unique challenges—limited access to tech support, fluctuating workloads, and the need to do more with fewer resources. Whether you’re a local photographer, a small-town marketing agency, or a crafts business owner, automating repetitive tasks like image resizing, notifications, and order processing can save you time and…
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An Educator’s Guide to AWS Tools—Ease of Use & Implementation
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The digital transformation of education is accelerating, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) is one of the leaders in this realm by providing accessible, scalable, and secure tools for K-12 and higher education. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, instructional technologist, or IT administrator, understanding how to leverage AWS’s AI-powered solutions can help you personalize learning, streamline…
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Driving Machine Learning with TensorFlow: An Analogy
Imagine building a car. You could start with raw materials and meticulously assemble every single component – engine, transmission, every nut and bolt. This is akin to working with TensorFlow’s low-level API. While powerful, it demands deep expertise and meticulous attention to detail. Alternatively, you could utilize pre-built components like a pre-assembled engine and an…
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Exploring Lens Studio: A Gateway to Engaging Learning Experiences
As an educator, I enjoy sharing opportunities for engaging computer science and creativity skills that AR development brings. I’ve found that Snapchat’s Lens Studio provides an a platform to help get students started with no-code development. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, Lens Studio allows educators to create interactive learning experiences that resonate with…