Colorado Tech Online Faculty
Meet Russell Mickler
School of Information Technology
Teaches BSIT Network Management courses
If It's Not Practical, He Doesn't Teach It
An online learner himself—he is going for his PhD through an online program—Russell Mickler knows how important practicality is to career-focused learners. "Adult learners need to take what they learn in the classroom and be able to apply it in the workplace tomorrow," he says. "Seeing immediately how something works in the real world is very powerful. Esoteric or purely theoretical stuff has little use for working adults."
Teaching at several other online as well as traditional universities, Mickler knows firsthand just how Colorado Tech Online stacks up in the practicality department. To put it simply: "The kind of career-focused, applied curriculum Colorado Tech Online has just doesn't exist anywhere else I'm familiar with. I like teaching at Colorado Tech Online because of this."
Mickler also knows how Colorado Tech stacks up in the technology department. "What is really different about Colorado Tech is the in depth, immersive experience that is created for the students. My classes focus on case studies and then Colorado Tech Online has all these supporting course materials—even multimedia presentations - built around them. Students can interact with me in real time as well as go back and watch or listen to all the lectures and chat on their own. There are easily accessed chat functions and the ability to have break out groups. No other university I'm aware of has the capability to do this kind of stuff."
"What Colorado Tech Online offers transcends the medium of online learning. Neither students nor instructors are just sitting around in front of a computer by themselves. Students can get closer together at Colorado Tech Online than any other institution I'm involved with."
Students can also get closer to Mickler than to instructors at other universities too. "I give students my direct home number, my cell phone number and my private email. If someone has an emergency, I want them to be able to contact me immediately and directly. I like to be very close." Mickler goes so far as to even offer to look at in-progress assignments. "I don't mind giving intermediate feedback. Online, the physical distance of the instructor can be a problem; but it's not if the office door is virtually always open."
When not working with students one on one, Mickler makes sure to infuse his lectures and chats with firsthand real world experience. He has years of personal experience working as a Technology Consultant, Manager of Logistics Systems, Director of Information Systems, and Vice President of Information Technology. "I don't just talk about my jobs to hear myself talk. I keep everything relevant to course concepts."
Even when on vacation, Mickler is looking for real world examples to bring to class. Recently, while visiting Indiana, Mickler toured the data center of a large company. "There was very complex hardware and software in there and I wrote it all out for my classes when I got back. It showed some of what we had talked about in class at work and gave us some other ideas to talk over. Students said they really appreciated it." How can they not when it's so practical?
Back to Faculty Profiles Home