Climbing Toward the Summit and Second MOS Associate

April will likely go down as the most challenging month of IS101-3003/5, Spring 2026!

Most students don't use Excel on a daily basis or have only a superficial exposure to most popular spreadsheet application. LabSim's Chapter 5 Microsoft Excel opened students' eyes. My signature A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer gave students the chance to apply what they learned. The Fun with Functions workbook from the then digital literacy program director Dr. Mark Taormino, challenged and likely frustrated students.

Today also marks the beginning of transition from Phase 2 to Phase 3. Half of the students have taken and passed the MO-210 Excel certification and many have also sent in their second capstone assignment, A7 Mail Merge. This milestone also marks the transition from Phase 2 to Phase 3 (see my January post for the phases).

Since my previous blog post, Zakiyyah and Josias joined Kevin in qualifying, taking, and passing the MO-210 ahead of schedule. By the time of this blog post, ten of their classmates joined them with Josias, Ivette, and Valeria earning a 1,000 out of 1,000 perfect score!

Nine students challenged Bonus Quiz 9 – Search Engine Optimization Hats, Techniques, and Consequences; ccTLD Hack; and URL Components Revisited. Ivette earned a perfect score while Kevin and JD earned a near-perfect score.

Six students challenged Bonus Quiz 10 – Internet Search Engine and $21.5 Million Business Email Scam at Pathé. Kevin and Ivette earned a near-perfect score.

Four students challenged Bonus Quiz 11 – The Internet, Bob, Vint, and Tim; and Mat Honan’s Epic Hack. Kevin earned a perfect score while Scott, Ivette, and Vania earned a near-perfect score.

Not only did Josias conquered MO-210 Excel ahead of schedule, right before publishing this post, Josias also conquered MO-310 PowerPoint ahead of schedule becoming the second Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Associate from IS101-3003/5, Spring 2026. Well done Josias :-)

The final group of students gave their A5 Slideshow Presentation after I gave my Lecture 7: Charts and Visualization. Reflecting on all thirty-three students' performance, I identified one more that will receive bonus credit.

Where as Vania, Ivette, Kevin, Josias, Zakiyyah, and Nicholas earned bonus for being the first to send in their drafts and present; Chae for delivering a polished and primetime-ready draft slideshow; Rafa went out of his comfort zone and tried something beyond simply showcasing his topic.

The future leader added an "Expected Outcome" slide at the beginning of his slideshow. Yes, this caused his presentation to run over the allotted time, but the young man's courage to try/practice something he learned outside of IS101 is what earned Rafa bonus credit :-)

Josias and Zakiyyah were not the only students that work ahead of schedule. Kevin continued his proactive momentum and knocked out Bonus Quiz 12 – Key Excel and Spreadsheet Concepts & BQ13 – Apex of Excel and sent in a flawless A9 Object Linking and Embedding Options and IF Statement.

My students are not the only people that deserves recognitions. Several years ago before we began using LabSim, the then digital literacy program director, Dr. Mark Taormino created his Fun with Functions workbook to help students practice Excel operations and functions to better prepare for the MO-210 exam.

Fourteen years ago, Mat Honan's misfortune prompted him to investigate and share his experiences with the world. To see whether Mr. Honan recovered his lost data or not, read the article and at the end, he gives you a way to find out.

Ten years ago, Sir Tim Berners-Lee was awarded the 2016 ACM A.M. Turing Award for inventing (circa 1990) the World Wide Web, the first web browser, and fundamental protocols (HTTP, HTML) and algorithms allowing the Web to scale.

Twenty-two years ago, Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn were jointly awarded the 2004 ACM A.M. Turing Award for their pioneering work on internetworking, specifically the design and implementation of the TCP/IP communication protocols (circa early 1970's) that form the foundation of the Internet.

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Last week, I presented to the class a calendar for the final four/five weeks of our semester together and a roadmap to go above-and-beyond IS101. As I wrap-up this pen-ultimate post for IS101-3003/5, Spring 2026, I look back on the students who stopped participating, the students who are currently working hard to catch up, the students who chose to do the bonus quizzes since the beginning of the semester, and the students who finished both capstone assignments. I wonder how many students will join Kevin and Josias in doing more bonus quizzes & bonus assignments and pursuing more MOS certifications ^_^

Here are the slideshows, capstones, and appreciation of contributions in April (click on an image for a larger view):

Persevering and Performing, First MOS Associate, and Breakout Star

The third month of 2026 saw three milestones for IS101-3003/5. The first is planned. The second is a pleasant early surprise. The third excites me as I see the formation of a breakout star.

Since my February post, twenty-seven students followed Viviana, Kevin, Zakiyyah, and Josias in qualifying, taking, and passing the MO-110 Word certification exam. This milestone also marks the transition from Phase 1 to Phase 2 (see my January post for the phases). Thus far, many students are persevering and performing well in Chapter 5 Microsoft Excel :-)

JD and Nicholas earned a perfect score on MO-110 while Kevin, Josias, Chae, and Scott earned a near-perfect score.

Ten students challenged Bonus Quiz 7 – TCP/IP, One Big Thing, and Generic Top-Level Domains. Kevin and JD earned a perfect score while Ivette and Zakiyyah earned a near-perfect score.

Nine students challenged Bonus Quiz 8 – Domain Name Registration, ccTLD Hack, and URL Parts. Kevin earned a perfect score while Ivette earned a near-perfect score.

Most students have sent in their A4 Using Table to Align and Format a Design. My favorite design came from Jay-R.

I gave three lectures/demonstrations while six students joined their nineteen classmates in sharing and showcasing their interests, homeland, and passion via A5 Slideshow Presentation. Having already  delivered his A5 as one of first presenters, Kevin delivered his A8 Improved Slideshow Presentation, Homeless: Broke but Breathing. I didn't think he could improve upon his earlier slideshow. I am elated that I am wrong.

The final milestone for IS101 is the completion of all coursework, including passing all three Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) Associate certifications: MO-110 Word, MO-210 Excel, and MO-310 PowerPoint. Kevin accomplished this on the final day of Spring Recess. I am so proud of him!

Upon returning from Spring Recess, I informed Kevin that he has earned enough points for the highest letter grade, without any bonus credit he has earned and is continuing earning. I was elated and proud to hear the Obsessed Hedgehog has no intention of disappearing until he finishes everything on his IS101 list.

Typically, a student reaches this state toward the end of a 16-week semester, Kevin not only reached this state with the first 8 weeks and Spring Recess, but did so with a level of professionalism and stellar performance that easily stood out from my 27 years of teaching part-time in higher education.

Not only has Kevin thoroughly analyzed and submitted bonus quizzes thus far ahead of schedule, the self-proclaimed neurotic hedgehog always produced polished results the match those from a business office instead of a college student.

The stubborn (his self-description) hedgehog impressed me with his solid performances on the two capstone assignments, A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer and A7 Mail Merge. I cannot remember the last time I modified the substance of my capstone assignments and very few students manage to fully and correctly satisfy all requirements on their first attempt. Kevin managed to join a tiny and exclusive club that did.

I am not sure which contributed more to Kevin's early completion and stellar performance in IS101-3003/5, Spring 2026: (a) his successful matriculation through a nursing degree, (b) his employer's need for an accountant instead of a registered nurse, (c) his own drive to succeed; but I am sure that Kevin Michael will earn his accounting degree with flying colors.

Earlier in the classroom today, 3/28/2026, Kevin took and passed the MO-111 Word Expert certification exam. This milestone is beyond the scope of IS101 but signaled the hedgehog wants to charge ahead complete the list. I look forward to see Mr. Michael completing (i) the rest of my signature bonus quizzes, (ii) A9 Query Options and IF Statement and A10 Workbook Investigation from my set of results-based assignments, and (iii) hitting a MOS Homerun ^_^

Focusing back to the other students, Zakiyyah, Jay-R, and Ivette submitted their A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer ahead of schedule.

In less than a week is the deadline (4/3/2026, 11:59 pm) for students to withdraw from a course or to change a course from "for grade" to "audit". If a student is considering doing either to protect his/her grade point average, then the student should still check with his/her funding source(s) (e.g. financial aid program, scholarship, employer re-imbursement, GI Bill, parents) for consequences of not receive college credit for withdrawing or auditing a course. 

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I look forward to see more students continuing to persevering and performing in Chapter 5 Microsoft Excel, bonus quizzes, and A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer; perhaps even joining Kevin!

Here are the slideshows, milestones, and happenings in March (click on an image for a larger view):

Student Presentations and Heading Toward the 1st Milestone

It's been a fast rising February in IS101-3003/5, Spring 2026!

Ninety percent of the forty students have been doing the coursework consistently as they transition from the grey bar to the blue bar in Phase 1 (see my previous blog post). Phase 1 will end with the first milestone: the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) MO-110 Word certification exam.

Viviana led the charge by completing Chapter 4 Microsoft Word and the preparation materials for MO-110 Word certification exam way ahead of schedule -- the earliest I have ever seen! Three days into February, the first MOS certificate was earned :-)

Ten days later, Kevin followed suit. Seven days more, Zakiyyah joined the club. Seven days afterward, Josias rounded out the quartet of early achievers. MOS certificates are not the only source of recognitions of student achievements in February.

Twenty-eight students challenged Bonus Quiz 3 – File E. & A. and Special Characters in File Name. Kevin, JD, and Scott earned a perfect score while Nicholas, Izabelle, Avery, Gian, and Ivette eared a near-perfect score.

Twenty-one students challenged Bonus Quiz 4 – Display, Shift/Ctrl, Boot-up, Binary, IPOS. Nicholas, Kevin, Scott, JD, and Ivette earned the highest score.

Seventeen students challenged Bonus Quiz 5 – Social Engineering & Purchasing Rationale. Zakiyyah, Kevin, and Ivette eared a near-perfect score. 

Twelve students challenged Bonus Quiz 6 – Shortcut, Recycle Bin, and File Types. Kevin alone earned a perfect score while Scott, Nicholas, JD, Gian, Zakiyyah, and Ivette earned a near-perfect score.

Bonus quizzes 2 (January) through 6 (February) form the first of two major bonus quiz blocks. In this block, Kevin earned the highest cumulative score while one point separates The Pessimistic Hedgehog and Scott & Ivette while one point separates the duo and twenty-one others. The twenty-one students are clustered together with only half a point separating each layer of cumulative score ranking.

I lead by example for A5 Slideshow Presentation by giving Lecture 3: Hardware, Troubleshooting, Social Engineering, Purchasing Rationale. Nineteen students have presented their A5 to the class where each student showcased interests, favorite food, homeland, and passion.

Vania, Ivette, and Kevin were the first trio to send in their drafts. Josias, Zakiyyah, Nicholas kicked off the Friday evening student presentations while Vania, Ivette, and Kevin kicked off the Saturday morning student presentations. All six students received bonus credit for being the first presenters.

Chae earned bonus credit by (a) sending in a draft slideshow that required only a minute (extremely small) cosmetic touch-up from me, (b) despite having double the suggested number of slides, the quiet young lady managed to stay with the allotted presentation time window, and most critically, (c) her intuitive way of visually illustrating 6,000+ ft instead of simply stating over six thousand feet.

Honorable mentions go to Kevin and Josias who almost achieve the same feat (a) as Chae except both left off their own names on their draft slideshows. A different honorable mention goes to JD whose meticulous attention to details and creative recruitment approach prompted me to ask "How do I join the Jaeger Training Program"?

The remaining fifteen students' title slides are arranged in the order of presentation. Rafa surprised me with his addition of an "Expected Learning Outcome" slide. Josephine piqued my and many classmates' interest about where she grew up.

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Next week begins the MO-110 Word certification exam. Majority of the students are primed to finish Chapter 4 Microsoft Word and the preparation materials. I see Kevin, Viviana, and Zakiyyah are working through Chapter 5 Microsoft Excel. Next class session, I will also give my Lecture 4: The Internet. I am excited ^_^

Until then, here are the slideshows (click on an image for a larger view):