Artificial Intelligence

Continuing from the previous blog post, the second article I directed the students to read as part of A3 Tailored Cover Letter and Resume is

Artificial Intelligence: The Robots Are Now Hiring (a half-page article introducing a 10-min video)
https://www.wsj.com/articles/artificial-intelligence-the-robots-are-now-hiring-moving-upstream-1537435820

The article and the video proved eye-opening for many students. Using algorithms in software to simulate intelligence is nothing new and quite common.

A few years ago, I emailed a company's customer support with some questions. The email responses I received made little sense. I deduced that they were (maybe still are) using software to response to questions based on keywords/phrases in my email. But when the question is not simple or straightforward, the software make a best guess and respond accordingly. After a few rounds of exchange, a human finally responded and interpreted and answered my questions correctly.

I wonder what other examples of artificial intelligence have my students come across :-)

Students, your example must unique!

Job Hunting Tips and Reminders

A3 Tailored Cover Letter and Résumé easily stands out as one of the most practical assignment from my IS101 arsenal of assignments to challenge and build up my students :-)

The end result may be the two visible artifacts tailored to a specific job posting but the assignment starts with a job hunter's understanding his/her strengths and weaknesses in the job hunting experience and a current trend in the candidate vetting methods by the employer/recruiter. The first article I directed my students to read and respond to is

7 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Your Job Search (a two-page article)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2013/04/17/7-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-your-job-search/

For the ten students, these are their responses to the 13 job hunting tips and reminders:

In discussion thread DT04, students shared their job hunting and interviewing experiences with me and their classmates. For this blog post, each student will (a) choose a tip/reminder to comment on how he/she practiced or will practice that tip/reminder and (b) how he/she is doing with A3 Tailored Cover Letter and Resume or how the assignment is impacting their job hunting mindset.

Soaring into the Autumn Sky

With three full weeks behind us in the Fall 2020 semester, the dozen students in IS101-3022 are occupying the full spectrum of progress and performance. Majority are keeping up with the coursework listed in the semester time table. A few are leading the group while a few are falling dangerously behind! This past week, I introduced my students to a set of email Inbox rules I designed them help them combat the onslaught of emails that fill up their CSN Student Email account's Inbox. Seven (7) students took Bonus Quiz 2 Self-Reliance, Self-Responsibility, and Self-Starting with Adrian earning the highest score :-) Bridget kicked off A3 Tailored Cover Letter and Resume by sharing a job hunting experience and answers to thirteen questions. More importantly, the entry-level Law Coordinator job posting – with multiple openings – she just landed is also helping out a classmate in her pursuit of a Paralegal career. Congratulations Bridget ^_^ Stephanie lead the replying to DT03 Windows 10 and Listing of Requirements from Job Posting. By her reply, I say she has comparable qualifications as Bridget and if Stephanie actually applies, I hope she lands the job as well.
I just virtually met with Matthew to for a Q&A session to vet the fitness of the job posting he chose to use for A3 and help him formatting and polishing his resume. That virtual meeting was open to the entire class as will be future virtual meetings unless the student requests it to be one-on-one or with a specified audience. We also quality controlled the email Inbox rules Matthew created. I directed the hardworking young man to create an additional rule to specifically trap and show IS101 meeting invites from Canvas in a new 'IS101 Meetings' folder. I will share this with the class this week via an email. I will also continue to individually meet with each student to do the same as what I did for Matthew and/or help the student to catch up.

Inbox Management

Work, school, personal; contents of email inboxes have a way of expanding daily, hourly, or by each minute! To help my students manage their CSN Student Email inbox, I began working on a set of Inbox Rules to guide and encourage students in automatically move/file their IS101-related emails. Anthony was the first student this past weekend to share with me what he has done. I will use this week to fine-tune the rule set and share with my students this coming Saturday :-) The young man also propelled himself to the front of the class as he is now working on Week 3's projects when most students are on Week 2's coursework. Go Anthony go ^_^