AJ OConnell

The adoption of OER (Open Educational Resources) is on the rise. According to a report from Babson Research Group, almost half of the faculty surveyed for the report are aware of OER and, for the first time in its history, more faculty report a preference for digital rather than physical class materials. In a recent Campus Technology survey, faculty members singled out proprietary publisher content as something they’d like to see disappear.
Among instructors, OER has an increasingly passionat...

Working the IT help desk can be a great entry-level job. As a help desk professional, your core responsibilities are to provide technical help and support; that could mean setting up and repairing computers or responding to a customer's question about how to use their computer. It could also mean performing routine maintenance of a company's computer networks and internet systems or teaching staff how to use new technologies.
It's a good gig, and it can be fulfilling. The median salary for co...

IT professionals of all stripes—programmers, theoreticians, engineers—are in high demand these days.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of software developers will grow by 24 percent and employment of app developers by 31 percent by 2026—rates that far outpace the average growth of other occupations.
Tech industries like artificial intelligence, information security, and enterprise software, Forbes says, are hiring computer scientists, tech specialists, and programmers in...

When you work with third parties, their risk is your risk. Common risks associated with vendors include everything from compliance risk to operational risk to financial and reputational loss.
According to Ponemon’s 2018 Cost of a Data Breach report, third-party breaches cost more than in-house breaches, at $13 per compromised record.
However, data breaches arising from vendor errors are common; 59% of respondents to Ponemon’s 2018 Data Risk in the Third-Party Ecosystem report reported a third...

There are a lot of reasons not to invest in training for gig workers. For one thing, mandatory training for contract workers is illegal in the U.S., but there's a lot more to this story, so let's dig into it.
Most companies in the sharing economy rely on independent contractors to provide their services — these workers sign up to do a job without becoming employees. That means companies don’t have to pay benefits, but that also means they can’t make their employees do certain things, like tak...

Business is booming.
Revenue is flowing in.
You’re struggling to keep up with demand.
Your company has responded by rolling out new product lines, opening new divisions, and beefing up the marketing department - which is sending your team more leads.
Times are great, right?
The hard part is just about to begin 😉
You need to scale up the sales function of your business while meeting a series of ever-increasing revenue growth targets.
This is a fun challenge to attack, but the pressure is real,...

The aviation industry is facing a major personnel shortage. According to Boeing’s 2018 Pilot and Technician report, airlines will need 790,000 commercial pilots and 890,000 new cabin crew members in the next 20 years. This is a concern for several reasons, including the fact that airline positions require a lot of training.
Commercial pilots, for example, must train as a private pilot and have a minimum of 1,500 hours of flight experience to obtain their commercial license. Flight attendants ...

Imagine you’re a major company in the B2B space. Your sales are mostly handled by your channel partners, and to support them, you maintain a robust partner program. You offer a partner portal with comprehensive documentation, an incentive program to motivate them, and marketing materials they can use in their own efforts.
But are you training them? If your partner hires a new sales associate, can that person easily learn everything they need to know about your product as quickly as possible, ...

IT professionals of all stripes—programmers, theoreticians, engineers—are in high demand these days.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment of software developers will grow by 24 percent and employment of app developers by 31 percent by 2026—rates that far outpace the average growth of other occupations.
Tech industries like artificial intelligence, information security, and enterprise software, Forbes says, are hiring computer scientists, tech specialists, and programmers in...

Being a temp worker isn’t easy. Running from job to job — walking dogs, delivering food, or Ubering people around — is exhausting, and it takes a chunk out of your free time. Did you also know it’s taking a toll on your wallet? Going from one job to another, it might be easier to pick up a meal than it is to cook, or you might drop off your laundry rather than do it yourself.
It’s called convenience spending, and it’s a danger to your bank account — the one you’re trying to fatten up with ext...

You’ve read about them in the news. Your friends talk about them online. Maybe you’ve watched a television show associated with them. But have you ever considered working for them?
There are so many gig economy companies making a splash right now for many different reasons. They’re changing the way we shop and commute, interacting with celebrities, and filling voids in the market — and all of them offer you a chance to make a little (or a lot, depending on your tippers) extra money.
Here, for...

IT consultants have a lot of options right now. This article describes what they should look for when they decide which technology consulting company to work for.