Classes that I like teaching

About my teaching

I love my students. They inspire me in so many ways. But to inspire them, I start each course talking about Katherine Johnson, Margaret Hamilton, and Mark Dean.

Katherine created the math formulas for the Apollo missions amongst many other achievements. She would later be recognized by President Obama with the Presidential medal of freedom in 2015.

Margaret coined the term computer engineering and created the landing computers for the Apollo missions. She also created one of the first computers that could prioritize the work that it performed.

Mark is one of the founding fathers of the IBM PC computer. Along with a fellow engineer, he co-created the ISA bus that made the PC modular. He holds 3 of the 9 patents for the IBM PC. IBM would recognize him by making him the first African American IBM fellow.

I use these examples of ordinary people that changed the world. As I say in class, I am getting old. My time is setting into the sun. It’s your time to shine. Go change the world. I can’t wait to see what you do.

Image of me (Thomas Nelson) pointing at a power point of Mark Dean.

Classes that I have taught

IS 125 Linux Fundamentals

Teaching the fundamentals of Linux is just fun. From command line to GUI what could be better.

IS 132 Computer Ethics and Law

The beauty of this class is there is no wrong answer. Ethics varies from person to person. We look at how ethical decision making is shaped by the law.

IS 222 Secure Cloud Computing

Creating servers in the cloud makes this a very hands on class and a great way to get experience in the cloud.

CS 223 Programming for IT

Programming in Python can be complicated but creating projects and seeing what students come up with is always awesome.

IS 228 Internet Servers

This capstone course is where the rubber hits the road and students show us what they can do. It’s always exciting to watch our students work on their own.

IS 260 Database Theory

Creating and managing databases in MySQL can be challenging because developing a database correctly so the database can grow with the business is an art.

IS 262 Network Management

This is another hands on class that is fun to teach. Here we learn Active Directory and how to setup a Windows Network and attach our AD to Linux too.