Course Reflections
As posted in my Learning Log December 17, 2013
I must say, when I began this course, I didn't expect much from it. I already knew HTML5, CSS and javascript programming and thought this course wouldn't offer a challenge. I considered it an easy A. Having taken the course, I must admit that I was incorrect. It was not the technical depth of the course that provided the challenge. The material covered, as I expected, was rudimentary in nature. Although there was an emphasis on CSS, which was a positive, there was very little mention of javascript, and while Dreamweaver is an incredible tool, I find that WYSIWYG programs are more about convenience and less about learning.
What proved challenging and therefore enjoyable was creating targeted web pages. Previous courses have allowed me to do whatever I wanted with websites and pages, and while the results were good, they paled in comparison to the work I've done here. Being forced to present specific assignments has made this course a truly joyous experience. It's forced me out of my nuclear power comfort zone into areas I've never thought about exploring (an 11th grade US History WebQuest being a case in point) I also truly enjoyed watching my classmates develop. They moved from the brightly colored sites of their early work, a common mistake of new web designers, to blending colors that work together well. Additionally, it was interesting to watch the creative process of real teachers. I have been teaching adults for so long that I forget that there are dedicated, creative people working to teach our children.
I would change some things in this class. I would eliminate Dreamweaver and teach the class with a text editor. I realize that the advertised function is web design, but I would argue that web understanding is much more important. Clearly, these individuals have the ability to move on and explore more of Dreamweaver on their own, but it would be much more useful to them if they knew how to create and implement web-based quizzes. Web based forms are an incredibly important topic and these were disregarded.
If this course is simply seen as an introductory course, then I would suggest a more advanced course in web design be offered. It is important to remember that, as a platform, a web browser is available to all users without any additional fee. This makes it an ideal canvas for the creativity of teachers. A more in depth course in web design would allow them to express their ideas in a forum available to all their students. While some universities may require an introductory computer course for all at the undergraduate level, without specified, in depth training for teachers on the use of interactive web tools, many good ideas will go unrealized due to lack of skill.
