WaSP InterACT

I am not sure that there is one clear way to un-teach soemone something. I usually work it on a one to one basis with the students who are really struggling with the new (well new to them) concepts. I do find that some of the students can switch as easily as clicking their fingers but for the ones that cant I usually start teaching by comparing the two techniques. This is usually done in a multitude of ways:
- run the cumbersome code through a screen reader to see if the students can make sense of their page, then do the same with a css based page.
- explain about the search engine ranking methods and show that clean code does make a difference
by this point most students can see that it is at least worth the effort to learn the css way. The challenge then is to get them to start thinking and implementing it the correct way. This is genreally done in the same way Lars mentions above.

Those are some good techniques.  I have never actually resorted to having students run their project through a screen reader, but its not a bad idea!

I like how you take the time to explain it to them through. Rock on Dave!

I teach the introductory course for a community college web design program, and the very first week we dig into web standards. I give them lots of resources to read and then they discuss it. I found that teaching them why it’s important is fundamental to getting them to be inspired to learn it and use it (which is important when your students come with some experience and bad habits).

I do keep the HTML and CSS portions separate for their major project, which is a 5 to 7 page web site and I do not allow any presentational code for the first half of the class. (But they are taught CSS from the beginning with smaller assignments.) I do this because I want them to know how “beautiful” a properly coded HTML page looks. And because their sites have no design elements in the beginning, if someone does use HTML inappropriately or in a non-semantic manner, boy does it stand out like a sore thumb! They also have to validate their site at each stage which is essential for bug checking and getting rid of deprecated code (we use XHTML 1.0 strict doctype).

I also encourage and teach folks how to dissect web sites and therefor learn from them. The web developer toolbar is invaluable for this purpose, in my opinion. Seeing is believing!

I know that when students leave my class they are usually not only enthusiastic about web standards but they insist on applying them in the rest of the program and in their work environments. :)

To answer the original question, however, I would have to say that teaching students brand new to XHTML and and CSS box model behavior and layout to be the most problematic at this point. It’s very difficult for students to “get” this without hours and hours of trial and error. I’m using new video curriculum from Lynda.com this semester, though, so I’m anxious to see if this helps students understand concepts and application faster.

Hi Magdelaine,

Sounds like you are doing all the right things!  That box model is tricky to pick up with out a lot of practice, you are right.

I’m interested to hear how your students respond to the Lynda.com videos :)

Zac

CSS was tough for me to learn

i want to learn more about web design and development. where should i start?

@jjbaulikki - Do you remember things in specific that you struggled with?  What type of resources helped you to understand it, or just a lot of practice?

@enchskinnyasap - I would recommend the Learning Web Design Book by Jennifer Niederst Robbins as a solid resource for learning HTML and CSS.  Do you have a special interest in either design (as in graphic design for the web) or development (like programming for the web)?

@zac Gordon - thanks for recommending that book. i want a web developing.

Funnily enough I’ve been looking for higher ed courses on seo and web development to sharpen my skills.

What would you cover in a semester for these areas? I don’t want to duplicate my knowledge, as time is of the essence.

thx!

Unfortunately, our server side modules are still under work, so I can’t offer you those just yet ;)

However, here are a few books that I have used in the classroom (or will use this year) for the development side the web.

PHP/MySQL: Build Your Own Database Driven Web Site Using PHP & MySQL (Sitepoint)
Ruby on Rails: Agile Web Development with Rails, Third Edition
ASP.NET: Beginning ASP.NET 3.5: In C# and VB (Programmer to Programmer)

I don’t have a personal reference for Python… but I am sure someone on the forums does.

Hope this helps.  Of course there are also tons of websites too!

Anything experienced based - like how to design a GOOD looking website that flows. That is something that cant be taught - only learned after doing 5 million web designs.

nastytoe - 13 August 2009 03:18 AM

Anything experienced based

Ooh, you nailed it there!  I think that that trying to focus a bit more an teaching design for the web specifically can help with that, but things like flow and appropriate placed calls to action can be tough to learn as a beginner.

Any suggestions in this area?

Sudents need to be motivated if you want to see results.

I think hardest is to make fancy and good loking ans in the same time functional and easy to use. It is really difficult to learn. Almost impossible

style and functionality are the hardest to teach, like the previous poster said. Being able to design something that looks good, meets the goal of the project and user friendly, that takes a master.