Okay yes, this affirmation does matter to me and it will go into my annual review for next year.

Marked 832 AP English essays in a week of online work. Rating is based on how accurately I marked the pre-graded training examples scattered in amongst the flood. A really good professional development tool, that helps me to align my assessment with what my peers feel is high school writing skill that deserves college credit.…

Canadian teen’s short film captures Spring 2020

Not graphic, but emotionally powerful. Similar:Why Even Try if You Have A.I.? Now that machines can think for us, we have to choose wheth…The Missing Will, by Agatha Christie (WAOB Audio Theatre)'Most Transparent’ White House In History Keeps Majority Of Trump’s Remarks SecretMicrosoft Publishes Garbled AI Article Calling Tragically Deceased NBA Player "Useless"The Big Boy…

The Offspring (StarTrek:TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 16) Data Experiences Fatherhood

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. Data builds an android derived from his own positronic neural pathways, and intends to raise it as his child — a prospect that invokes Picard’s iconic facepalm. Picard (to admiral conjured up by writers who needed an antagonist): “There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot blindly…

In a literature class, the author’s words matter more than the author’s life and times, or our own feelings and values.

Updating the graphic for a resource I created in 2012. Similar:Why Even Try if You Have A.I.? Now that machines can think for us, we have to choose wheth…Spring 2025 Final Grades Submitted!The Missing Will, by Agatha Christie (WAOB Audio Theatre)The Big Boy GraveyardThis 1960s teenager knew the neighborhood that inspired August Wilson’s playsHad a…

Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu Logo

In May, 2000, I was blogging about the ‘I Love You’ virus, hacking URLs, PG Wodehouse, and Pez poetry

In May, 2000, I was blogging about The “I Love You” IRC virus A college that shifted to online applications only A poem about Pez that has lodged this couplet forever in my brain: What art thou, Pez, that must needs be dispensed? T’ be merely wrapped would leave thee so incensed? Hacking the URL…

Seton Hill graduates its last “New Media Journalism” major this year.

The English program is not going anywhere, but Seton Hill is graduating its last “New Media Journalism” major this year. Likewise, students who graduate under the current catalog won’t get diplomas that say “Literature” or “Creative Writing.” This was a step that the English faculty took on our own initiative, in the context of a…

Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu Logo

In April 2000, I was blogging about HTML frames, the future of reading, grammar, Kairos, and Hypercard

In April 2000, I was blogging about… HTML frames (who remembers how much they sucked?) The sorry state of web design (AskTog) The future of reading “Rules grammar change: English traditional replace to be new syntax with” (The Onion) Journalism students who don’t read or watch journalism A design critique I published in the innovative…

Fake Graph: The Actual “Dunning-Kruger Effect” Is NOTHING Like I Thought It Was

For years, I’ve been teaching a fake graph. In pretty much every course I teach, on some day when students seem discouraged or distracted, I’ll draw an X axis labeled “Experience” and a Y-axis labeled “Confidence,” and sketch out the “Dunning-Kruger Effect” curve, as preparation for an informal pep talk. (Update, 27 Nov 2021: My…

xkcd: Pathogen Resistance

This is just an excerpt. Read the whole thing. Similar:Spring 2025 Final Grades Submitted!'Most Transparent’ White House In History Keeps Majority Of Trump’s Remarks SecretThe Big Boy GraveyardStop sharing those unsourced memes about "be woke" and "God doesn't need soldiers" — here…A Simple Investigation #StarTrek #DS9 Rewatch (Season 5, Episode 17) Odo falls for a…

Dennis G. Jerz | Associate Professor of English -- New Media Journalism, Seton Hill University | jerz.setonhill.edu Logo

In March 2000, I was blogging about Palm V computers for the Navy, NCAA banning online journalists, Stephen King, and diploma mills

In March 2000, I was blogging about Palm V handheld computers for Navy officers Teaching with bells and whistles Stephen King selling a short story online NCAA banning online journalists Great moments in bureaucratic history Diploma mills Maps of imaginary lands   Similar:Why Even Try if You Have A.I.? Now that machines can think for…

Which of my colleagues wants attention?

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Confessions of a Nerdy Homeschooling Dad

Are you unexpectedly home-schooling your kids? Every family is different, and every kid is different. But I think anxious parents who are in unexplored territory probably need to hear this: you won’t hurt your children if you don’t keep them academically occupied for a block of 7 hours. On a typical brick-and-mortar school day, kids…

Confessions of a Nerdy Homeschooling Dad

Similar:Spring 2025 Final Grades Submitted!The Missing Will, by Agatha Christie (WAOB Audio Theatre)The Big Boy GraveyardStop sharing those unsourced memes about "be woke" and "God doesn't need soldiers" — here…This 1960s teenager knew the neighborhood that inspired August Wilson’s playsWashington Post Cartoonist Who Quit Over Bezos Cartoon Wins Pulitzer Prize

Those mean fake news people at the Washington Post are at it again, this time publishing a vivid simulation of the effect of social distancing

Those mean fake news people at the Washington Post are at it again, this time pushing a series of four simulations that vividly illustrate the impact of social distancing. Where do they get off, creating clear and informative graphics to illustrate a scientific principle? What do they think they’re doing, some kind of public service?…

“You work for the @CollegeBoard?” the bright-eyed teen behind the fast food counter asks. I tell her I sometimes mark #APEnglish tests. “I’m taking three AP classes now!” she says. “After I go to college, I want to be the #POTUS!”

“Unsweetened tea. And can you use this cup?” “You work for the College Board?” the bright-eyed teen behind the fast food counter asks, spying my branded mug. I tell her I sometimes mark #APEnglish tests. “I’m taking three AP classes now!” she says. “After I go to college, I want to be the president!” I…