Author Archives | Bryson Payne

About Bryson Payne

Author of Teach Your Kids to Code, TEDx Speaker, and Professor of Computer Science at the University of North Georgia.

Celebrating 30 Years of Computer Science at UNG

August 12, 2013

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This semester marks the 30th anniversary of the bachelor’s degree program in computer science at North Georgia. In September of 1983, the Department of Mathematics became the Department of Mathematics & Computer Science at North Georgia College, offering a bachelor of science degree in computer science at a time when few universities offered complete degree […]

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$30 per month iPhone 5 with unlimited text/data

August 5, 2013

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I don’t usually advertise on my site, but I do advocate saving and investing, so I’m posting my personal experience with switching from AT&T to Virgin Mobile cell phone service. My close friend and colleague Dr. Markus Hitz has been a Virgin Mobile customer for several years, happy with their coverage here in Dahlonega, and […]

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MOOCs really can change the world

July 20, 2013

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Massive, open, online courses (MOOCs) have been a novelty trying to find a business model, but that could be changing. Having free, top-quality courses from Harvard, MIT, Georgia Tech, UPenn, has an obvious appeal. Until recently, though, there wasn’t a great deal of evidence that MOOCs were significantly contributing to educational outcomes for either traditional […]

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New Programming Tutorial Videos

June 21, 2013

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I’ve updated my https://vimeo.com/ungcs video lesson site – if you’ve taken one of my courses in the past year or read my January post about massively open online courses, you’ve seen my programming tutorials in either Java or JavaScript, but I’ve updated the channel to include a fifth video produced this summer. You can now […]

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Passing 2,500 Followers on Twitter

May 2, 2013

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In the two months since Randstad’s Social Media Director, Mr. Scott Graham (https://twitter.com/ScottGraham9), gave an outstanding guest lecture in my MBA course on Information Management (MGMT 6610), I’ve followed just a few of his many tips and insights, and it’s paid off measurably. I’ve been active in social media for more than a decade, but […]

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600 Days of Juicing!

March 21, 2013

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Kale Lemon Carrot Juice

I just happened to type the date we started juicing (July 29, 2011) into Excel and noticed it’s exactly 600 days ago today! I can’t believe my beautiful wife Bev and I have been juicing for 600 days – this July will make it 2 years. In that time, I’ve lost 54 pounds – almost […]

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IT Industry Panel Shares Insights at UNG

February 27, 2013

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IT Industry Panel Speakers

We had a great number of our 350+ computer science and information systems majors turn out for the IT Industry Panel discussion at the University of North Georgia’s Dahlonega campus. Seven industry insiders, from IBM and CareerBuilder.com all the way to local IT firms in Dahlonega, Gainesville, and Cumming shared their experience and insights with […]

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Two online courses, two very different experiences

January 13, 2013

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I jumped into the world of MOOCs (massive open online courses) this past year, taking two very interesting, very worthwhile courses. Both were through coursera.com, both from top-name schools, and I got a lot out of both courses, but they provided very different experiences. The first course, Gamification, was from Prof. Kevin Werbach at UPenn. […]

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Computer Science at North Georgia

October 31, 2012

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Beginning January 2013, the Department of Computer Science will operate as a separate academic unit from the former Department of Math & CS, and I will be serving as the first Department Head of Computer Science (interim) at the new, consolidated university. The new Department of Computer Science will house Bachelor’s degree programs in computer science […]

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Leadership article published in CIO Magazine

September 15, 2012

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Last month, I made the transition from Chief Information Officer (CIO) here at North Georgia back to my tenured position as an associate professor in computer science & information systems. This month, an article I submitted to CIO magazine this past year was published. You can access the article here: What Would the Next CIO […]

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