I'm Kieran Mathieson, your instructor for the course.
Please call me by my first name, Kieran. It's pronounced like this.
I was born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1960. Yes, I'm really old. I learned to program computers in 1978, and have been doing it ever since. I came to the US in 1983, and finished my Ph.D. in information systems in 1987. I've been at Oakland University in Michigan since 1991. That's a long time.
I'm married, have two grown children, and two dogs. You'll meet the dogs, Renata and Rosie. I loooove dogs. I like to play computer games to relax, things like Skyrim, Borderlands, and FarCry 5. I'm a proud nobody. I like Vegemite, and chocolate chip cookies.
I made this website to help you get the most from the time you invest in the course. Not only did I write the lessons here, but also the software used to write the lessons. The software is called Skilling. It's open source. Anyone can download it, and make their own courses.
OK, you know about me. What about you?
About you
It helps me do my job better if I know a bit about you.
What you like to do, what pets you have, if there's something that people wouldn't guess about you. Like that you once saved a bee trapped in a coal mine.
Also, what do you want from this course?
That's what this exercise is about.
I'd like to know what you like to be called as well. If your name is Elizabeth, do you like to be called:
- Liza
- Liz
- Beth
- Lizzie
- Qeass - that's an acronym for Queen Elizabeth of All She Surveys
- . . .
So your exercise is to:
- Edit your account (log in, and then Your stuff | Account)
- Fill in the About field
- Add a photo, if you want
- Set the first name to whatever you want to be called
- Update your initials
In the exercise itself, copy-and-paste the About field from your account, into the exercise submission.