I’m truly thankful for the professional network that I have worked hard to build and maintain, pay off not for me but for my students. What do I mean by this? I’m seeing graduates from programs at Clark College going to work for companies and organizations that started with some “matchmaking” and introductions from my network. There’s no greater feeling in the world than seeing a graduate enter the workforce. I’m truly blessed.
Tag: clarkcollege
This Week in the Business Web Practices Speaker Series: Web Career Journeys
This week’s Business Web Practices lecture features two individuals with strong ties to Clark College; CTEC and CGT adjunct instructor Fellene Gaylord and Web Development program graduate Christine Watson. Both will share tales of their career journeys with a stress on how successful careers in the world of the web require one to be fluid, open to change, and be willing to regularly develop and expand their skill sets.
Hope to see you on Weds. 11/2/16 at 4:30 in Foster Auditorium at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington.
A schedule of all of the speakers participating in this year’s series as well as the video archive for the series can be found at http://bit.ly/CTEC165 and you can subscribe to our new YouTube CTEC 165 channel at http://bit.ly/CTEC165Videos
Jane Croft: The Importance and Role of Quality Assurance in Software Development
Here is the video from Jane Croft’s talk at Clark College’s Business Web Practices class entitled “The Importance and Role of Quality Assurance in Software Development”
Subscribe to the Business Web Practices YouTube channel.
Cheryl Bledsoe: Ubiquity of Social Media and Social Media as a Social Service
Yesterday Cheryl Bledsoe, Technology & Accreditation Manager at Clackamas County Communications, delivered an outstanding talk at Clark College. I have seen many talks on social media, but none of them ever resonated with me the way in which the stories Cheryl shared did. This talk is a “much watch” for any company, organization, educator or person who utilizes one or more of the plethora of social media platforms. I would also encourage you to share it with your friends, colleagues, and family.
Here is the schedule of speakers as well as videos of past speakers. Also, please subscribe to Business Web Practices Speaker Series YouTube channel.
Cheryl, on behalf of Clark College, thank you!
This Weeks Business Web Practices Guest Speaker: Cheryl Bledsoe
Our guest for week 4 of the Business Web Practices Speaker Series will be Cheryl Bledsoe who for many years been fundamental in helping define and implement the role of social media in time of crisis and emergency, most notably in roles in management in both Clark and Clackamas counties. You will likely come away from this session with new insights about the importance and potential of the web and social media in our society at large. The title of Cheryl’s talk is “The Ubiquity of Social Media and Social Media as a Social Service”.
A schedule of all of the speakers participating in this year’s series as well as the video archive for the series can be found at http://bit.ly/CTEC165 and you can subscribe to our new YouTube CTEC 165 channel at http://bit.ly/CTEC165Videos.
This event will take place on Wednesday, October 12, 2016, at 4:30 PM in Foster Auditorium at Clark College. All are welcome.
Here is some more information about Cheryl:
Cheryl Bledsoe is the Technology Manager for the Clackamas County 911. She is also the Executive Director of the Virtual Emergency Management Association (www.virtualema.org) which aims to build partnerships between emerging technical companies, emergency services and higher education. Cheryl first became familiar with social media as the Southwest Washington. She has been responsible for implementing local, regional and state social media footprints which have included policy development, website redesign and managing blogs, Facebook and Twitter communications. Her most notable accomplishments have included the development of Virtual Operation Support Teams (VOST) to monitor social media during incidents of national and international significance and her creation of 30 Days, 30 Ways which has been one of the largest online social media games running each September during National Preparedness Month since 2010. She speaks regularly at national conferences, consults with government agencies and provides training to diverse audiences. Despite her incredible resume, she is probably best known for accidentally creating the hashtag #CookingWithCheryl by burning hard-boiled eggs, marrying her geeky fingerpainting partner from kindergarten at the Church of Elvis and, despite believing she would never have children, has spawned two little humans that are the light of her life.
Say What? IBM and Education
Last night the Dean of my divison at the college sent an email that she received from the Washington State, Center of Excellence. In the email were many things, but one of those things caught my attention. Here it is:
The IBM BlueMix team offers IT instructors to enroll in a “no-charge” program called “IBM Academic Initiative for Cloud/BlueMix“. I’m going to see where this takes me. Stay tuned for details.
Year 4
Today marks the beginning of my fourth year as a college instructor at Clark College. I’m amazed at how quickly the time flies by. Here are a few things that I have learned about teaching at a community college that I thought I would share with you:
- Seeing students graduate from your program and getting jobs is awesome.
- Office hours are a thing of the past. Virtual office hours are seven days a week.
- 10-30% of your students truly want to learn and the others simply go through the “motions” of school.
- Teach to the “middle” of the class.
- Teaching people who range in age from 13 to 75 is extremely rewarding and challenging; especially when they are all in the same class.
- Excuses are a constant.
- Classroom management is not as easy as people think it is.
- Developing the right mix of assignments, testing, labs and other assessments takes time to develop and constantly needs tweeking.
- I love what I am doing.
- I’m always learning new things.
I highly encourage anyone who is thinking about teaching at a college or university to do it. Your first couple of semesters will be rough but, once you realize the impact you make on students lives, you will embrace and love doing it.
I’m always available if you want to talk about becoming a college instructor or want to learn more about the web development program at Clark College.
Winter 2016 Registration Now Open at Clark College
Registration for the Winter 2016 quarter at Clark College is now open. If you are a current student I highly encourage you to register for your classes sooner rather than later.
If you are new ew to Clark and are thinking about taking some classes this Winter, I suggest that you visit the college and meet with an adviser.
Not sure what courses are available? Start here.
Bruce Elgort 