friday, march 04, 2005
HTML is fun
I’m teaching my Web Design class now. They learn XHTML and CSS the proper way or else. The real teacher gets paid for doing nothing, but that’s OK because she’s been doing that all year. Naturally, there are some challenges:
- I have no textbooks and no curriculum guidelines. I’m making it up as I go along, with the help of some websites.
- We have barely enough working computers, which all run Windows 98.
- “Make it look professional? That’s BORING.” Bring on the clip art and Comic Sans. I showed them The Page of the Damned and they said “Cool!”
Some of the students actually want to learn HTML/CSS; some don’t. People at our school get thrown into a lot of electives they don’t want. Why should anyone learn web design if they don’t care about it?
I say because HTML makes you smart! It’s all about language and meaning and categorization and problem solving — essential skills that we don’t get enough of. But can I teach this? Maybe, maybe not. It doesn’t matter. I’m being used to fill up time, so anything they learn is gravy.
The secret final exam: seeing if they’ve implemented their knowledge on their Myspace profiles! Haha, maybe not. I don’t think I’d be exaggerating to say that Myspace is the internet’s [eye-wateringly ugly] killer app for high schoolers. Friendster and Orkut and all that were just practice runs. The real market for social networking sites was these teenagers who check their Myspaces while I’m trying to mash some CSS into their heads.
comments (5)
I just completed a piece on the "History Of the Web". Would it help?
http://www.yourimedia.com/imediaResources/
I believe it is important to understand the roots. Like I said in my blog:
http://press.bristolma.com/2005/03/02/web-design-101/
– Andy on 3/5/2005 13:10:37
Strange that it doesn't mention insects...
– Kyle on 3/6/2005 07:57:01
?
– Andy on 3/7/2005 15:55:46
You get to learn web design in High School? Damn. When I was in school and got labeled a "computer-whiz" they made me take a damn Microsoft Networking (TCP/IP) class. Bastards.
– nick on 3/8/2005 10:48:48
long time no read!
if you need any css help, i've got my mind wrapped around semantics and styles like crazy.
the key: build your xhtml first, no styles. proper structure and semantics come first.
style always comes last.
dean edwards' ie7 (http://dean.edwards.name/IE7/) is a godsend.
hope this helps! hope you're well!!
– David on 4/12/2005 00:14:24
comments are off. for new comments, my email address is brittag@gmail.com.
