technotech

About learning Web Development [back to html section page]

on this page: [ about learning ] [ about the current workshops ] [ to help you learn ] [ questions ] [ your pay ]

About learning web development

• What is "web development"?

“Web development” means using html, stylesheets, javascript (and sometimes other languages) to make web pages and full web sites.

• What do you mean: “language”? Only people speak languages!

We also use languages to talk to the computer, by typing codes into a file.

• Isn't it hard to learn web development?

Most people that i teach already know a few languages: Tibetan, Hindi, English, and maybe even Chinese! Programming is just another language, used to talk to computers instead of to people.

• Why would a person learn web development?

Of course, the first reason is probably, to make websites! And maybe get a better job. But you don't have to want to be a professional web developer. A person could also learn to

• add to their computer skills.
• understand computers better.
• understand how web sites work.
• make their own personal website.
• understand what web developers do.

Understanding a little bit of how web development works is very helpful if you become

• a website graphical designer
• a manager of computer people
• a friend of a web developer!

About learning web development

• The goals are to help people become familiar with concepts of how websites are made, and how to learn to make them. Teaching is towards the individual needs of each person.
  People do not have to want to become professional web developers. The skills learned here are also useful for managers, other workers, and anyone who uses the web.
• The intended audience is local people who have any interest in website development, and any level of experience.
  Also, most will not have English as their first language, and some will have little English at all. But most documentation is in English. I only speak English, don't speak Tibetan or Hindi. So another focus will be to make these things understandable over, under, around, and through language differences. After all — it's just another language!
• The length of this program: There's no "stop date" where you are expected to have gained a certain amount of knowledge, or where the teaching will end. James plans on being in McLeod for a long time, and will teach as long as people keep coming to learn.
• Levels: to enter you already know how to:
  • Level 0 - make web page with html basics; but little or no experience making web pages with css.
  • Level 1 - make web pages with good html and css; no web development experience.
  • Level 2 - make simple website — or are learning very quickly.
• What we can learn:
  • We'll be covering three main parts of web development:
    1. HTML 5
    2. CSS 3 (Cascading Stylesheets)
    3. Building websites for information and usefulness.
  • Details here
  • I do not know “page design”, and cannot teach it. There are many people around here who do know page design well, and who teach that.
• To get the most out of what i teach:
• If you want to learn how to make websites, you can learn the most if you:
  • Attend every session. But know this: sitting in a session is only 10% of learning web development — 90% is you typing code.
  • Have a computer at home or office, and practice as much as possible between sessions. If you do coding for five hours, for every hours that we have a session, you will learn how to make web pages.
  • If we try out new things in a session, take copies of the code home and play with it some more. Try things, anything you can think of. You learn as much (or more) when something doesn't work, as when it does.
  • Make real web pages - for yourself, for your friends. About something you are interested in.
  • Listen in when other people are discussing a problem.
  • Get a good html book. Try FlipKart — they deliver for cash!
    There is a lot more information in books — no one can cover everything in person.
  • Read any other books you can, on paper or as files, and also any other HTML or web-building documentation you find.
• Also, if you ask questions, i can get a better idea of what people need to know, and can teach better.
• If you don't ask questions, i will just babble on about whatever is in my head — and that could be not as good for the students!

To help you learn:

• tools
  Everything you need to learn web development is free except the computer, books, and internet access. The Tools section lists what you need to learn, and where to get it. James will be happy to help you install and learn the programs.
• downloads
  The downloads section has:
  • online books:
  • applications that you can use in writing web pages, such as a good text editor, html checker, etc.

  We also have all the downloads available, on flash drive or CD-ROM.

Any questions?

• Why is it called a "workshop" instead of a "class"?
• The best way to learn how to make web pages is the same as the best way to learn to speak a language:

You learn a human language by talking to people, not by sitting in a class.

You learn a computer language by talking to the computer.

• I like to teach things because i learn things better myself when i try to explain them.

So we'll be working together — a workshop.

• Who is running this thing?
  • James has been in McLeod Ganj for several years, teaching by helping out with websites at government and non-government organisations. He knows Perl, PHP, Linux, and shell, as well as web servers, html, and css. He is from the U.S., and before coming to McLeod had been developing websites for seven years and programming for five years, as a contractor for companies in Silicon Valley.
    He can be reached here
• Why?
  • This work is a donation to the Tibetan community, in hopes that by education and inspiration, it can help increase the skills of Tibetans-in-exile, (and anyone else who is interested!). And in the process, help in the process of spreading information about the Tibetan cause to the world, as Tibetans are able to build more websites and get more jobs through gaining these skills.

Your pay for my teaching Nope — it's not free!

‣ Your pages of code are your ticket to each workshop. No files: No teaching.
    Don't bother to join that day if you do not have files to show!

‣ Requirements to start:
    • Have Tibetan working on your laptop
    • Know how to use your computer, your operating system and programs.
    • Be able to spend at least 5 hours practising for every hour you spend here.

‣ Your responsibilities are
    • to do the work
    • to know the workshop timings
    • to know the information in the workshop website.
    • to keep up with new information by checking the website often,
         and reading the emails i send.
    • to ask me if you don't understand.
    • to teach others what you know.

‣ My responsibilities are:
    • To teach you everything i know about web development.
    • To answer your questions as best as i can.
    • Everything you need, with links to more, is here
    • When i show you codes, it is for the purpose of:
         - showing you how to do things, 
         - showing you how to learn things.
         - showing you how to find out for yourself.

‣ My responsibilities are NOT:
    • To teach you how to use your computer.
    • To teach you how to use your operating system or programs.
    • To give you free books or anything else -- i don't have any money either!

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