David Largent

#FlippedLearning #ActiveLearning || #SeniorLecturer @BSUCompSci @BallStateCSH || Tweets reflect me, not BSU.

[CyrilXBT @cyrilXBT]

A MIT professor gave a 1-hour lecture in 2019 that has 18 million views.

He died 5 months after recording it.

It was his final gift to the world.

Patrick Winston taught at MIT for 50 years.

The smartest engineers on earth sat in his classroom.

And he spent his last lecture teaching them the one skill their degrees never covered.

How to speak.

15 lessons that will change how you communicate forever:

Never open with a joke. Your audience is not ready to laugh yet. Open with a promise of what they will know by the end.

Your ideas are like your children. You are too close to them. What is obvious to you is invisible to everyone else. Explain the obvious.

The 5-minute rule: the first 5 minutes of any talk determine whether people will listen for the next 55. Spend more time on your opening than anything else.

Repeat your most important idea 3 times in 3 different ways. Once is never enough.

Build a fence around your idea. Tell people what it is NOT before you tell them what it IS.

Verbal punctuation. Pause. Let the idea land before moving to the next one.

Ask questions nobody will answer. Then wait 7 seconds. The silence is not awkward. It is processing.

Never read your slides. Your audience can read. They cannot listen and read simultaneously.

Use the board not the slides. Writing forces you to slow down. Slowing down forces clarity.

Inspire before you inform. Nobody learns from someone they are not inspired by.

End with a contribution not a summary. Tell them what you gave them. Not what you said.

Never say thank you at the end. It is weak. End with something that lands.

Stories make ideas stick. Data makes ideas understood. You need both. In that order.

The quality of your communication determines the quality of your ideas in the eyes of the world. Not the ideas themselves.

Practice is not preparation. Practice IS the skill.

Patrick Winston understood something most people spend their entire careers missing.

Your ideas are only as powerful as your ability to transfer them into someone else's mind.

You can be the smartest person in the room and be completely invisible.

Or you can master communication and make average ideas feel like breakthroughs.

He chose to spend his last lecture teaching this.

Watch it tonight.

Bookmark this first.

Follow @cyrilXBT for more lessons from the people who built the future.

[David Largent @ProfLargent]

I've been managing this show for 13 years!

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

The judging results are in for the twenty-sixth semi-annual CS 120 All-section Art Show! Take a look. Was your favorite chosen? https://t.co/Hsy89MZEPJ
#CS1 #ArtShow #MediaComputation #ComputerArt #Python @ProfLargent

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

The Ball State 26th semi-annual CS 1 Art Show is today! Our #CS1 course uses a #MediaComputation approach. 14 students are displaying their work on combining images in an #ArtShow. Take a look!⤵️
https://t.co/0RfubJCJlH
@BallStateCSH #ComputerArt @ProfLargent

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

On April 1, 2026, Dr. Travis Faas heroically stepped onto the Ball State University pool deck to represent the department in the 2026 #OneBallState Day Splash n Dash Challenge. This video documents that event.
https://t.co/Zlcr6Hu9x9

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

It's #OneBallState Day! Your generous donation will be used to enhance our students' learning experiences. https://t.co/SbgvRBiieK
Need a reason to give? Consider these challenges and donate to help us meet them today. https://t.co/xBopS7Zco3

[David Largent @ProfLargent]

Yes, this is real!

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

Make Prof @ProfLargent Dye His Hair: When donations to the CS department reach $2,500, he will donate $250 to the department, and when the donations reach $5,000, he'll also (temporarily) dye his hair a color chosen by his current students. https://t.co/SbgvRBiieK #OneBallState

[David Largent @ProfLargent]

Join me on 04/01/2026 in supporting Ball State University and the @BSUCompSci Department on One Ball State Day. https://t.co/jpQ9MtH20L
#OneBallState #becauseofballstate #BSUCompSci

[David Largent @ProfLargent]

It's time for another blog post! This time, I explain why I use specifications grading, and why I think points are bad--at least if we accumulate them.

https://t.co/pEsKKnEtmg

#specificationsgrading #assessment #teaching

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

The Human Educator: Intelligent, Not Artificial
Presented By: Paul Gestwicki – Professor of Computer Science

Wednesday, January 21, 2026, 3:00 PM, RB 125

Abstract & bio: https://t.co/58cMwicdvt

[David Largent @ProfLargent]

During the last 10 years, I've walked 22,871 miles. I'm looking forward to what 2026 has to offer. If I walk 4 more miles than needed to match next year's number, I will have walked the circumference of the Earth (at the equator) in eleven years.

[David Largent @ProfLargent]

I walked at least 20 minutes EVERY day of 2025. Since January 1, 2022, that makes 1461 consecutive days (4 years). I walked 2,244 miles this year, surpassing my goal of walking the year number by 219 miles. This translates to an average of 6.1 miles per day.
#goals #walking

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

Our faculty conduct research, in addition to teaching. Here is a recap of some of the results they produced during May through July 2025. Check out the results at this link: https://t.co/FhyCyQWnWi
Stay tuned for more in coming days!
@BallStateCSH

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

Our faculty conduct research, in addition to teaching. Here is a recap of some of the results they presented during the September 2025 CCSC:MW Conference. Check out the results at this link:
https://t.co/KxhHgPNRGu
Stay tuned for more in coming days!
@BallStateCSH

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

Our faculty conduct research, in addition to teaching. Here is a recap of some of the results they produced during October and November 2025. Check out the results at this link: https://t.co/4YCmAjIDy7

Stay tuned for more in coming days!

@BallStateCSH

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

Our faculty conduct research, in addition to teaching. Here is a recap of some of the results they produced during September 2025. Check out the results at this link: https://t.co/OLur8CNxqS
Stay tuned for more in coming days!
@BallStateCSH

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

Our faculty conduct research, in addition to teaching. Here is a recap of some of the results they produced during August 2025. Check out the results at this link: https://t.co/q2Rjv0WfVH
Stay tuned for more in coming days!
@BallStateCSH

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

We have great professors in our department, and now we have proof that @BallState thinks too. Not only is our department chair, @profcoy, a great professor, earlier this semester she was presented with the Outstanding Administrator Award. Read more... https://t.co/OyQQCCax0r

[Àgbà John Doe @jon_d_doe]

As a parent, I think this video has taught me something useful.

I recommend that you should try it on your kids, too.

I have also shared it with my wife.

Credit: joe_drummer_boy on IG.

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

The judging results are in for the twenty-fifth semi-annual CS 120 All-section Art Show! Take a look. Was your favorite chosen? https://t.co/R1IV9j798s
#CS1 #ArtShow #MediaComputation #ComputerArt #Python @BallState @BallStateCSH @ProfLargent

[David Largent @ProfLargent]

Hey alumni! Take a look.

[Ball State Computer Science @BSUCompSci]

It's not too late, but it's getting close! If you have a concept of an idea, submit it now. The actual content is not required for a couple of days.

We want this to be an eclectic zine, so everything will be considered--provided you submit it. Do it now! https://t.co/I4E09R0d8D