Retired Newbies Making Web Pages From Scratch
A month or so ago, I started holding a weekly 2-hour class
for basic web page creation.
The students are wintering at the RV park where Mari and I
are staying. Most are retired. All are new to the Internet.
After many years of programming, and studying programming
languages, I became such a geek that I feared getting out
of touch with our customers' point of view. The lack may
have been interfering with writing program specifications,
doing tech support, and writing users' manuals.
Teaching this class for people who are new to the Internet
may have been overcompensation for my perceived lack. Our
customers are past that newbie stage.
But the lessons are helping these people, who are excited
about creating their own web pages and smile as they make
progress. And the wide pendulum swing allows me to see
points of view I would otherwise have missed.
(Web site designers and others who have clients uninitiated
in the way of the Internet, pay attention. Some of these
points of view are those of your customers.)
WYSIWYG Went Away
The first lesson's classroom time, for most of the students,
is consumed by finding a plain text word processor on their
computer and grasping the concept that what they type in the
word processor is different than what the browser displays.
It takes a while for some. They are used to WYSIWYG software
that displays the rendered page immediately after making any
change to their document. Typing text with instructions for
the browser about how to display the text is a new concept.
Others catch on rather fast. A quick demonstration changing
one HTML tag, saving the file, and reloading the page in the
browser can be sufficient.
I enjoy watching the light of comprehension erase the frown
of concentration.
Real Web Pages Have Images
At the second lesson, images are introduced.
From comments I receive, and overhear among students, I get
the distinct impression that a web page is not a web page
until it has an image -- no matter what the instructor says.
Every student, once s/he learns how to put an image into a
web page, feels something grand has been accomplished.
Enthusiasm for learning is multiplied when a "real" web page
has been created. It happens with every student.
And when image height and width attributes are introduced,
you should hear the laughter as they contort photos of
their friends and mates and pets.
It makes for a fun day!
Duh, What's FTP?
Teaching the use of FTP software for transferring their web
page and image files from their computers to the server was
the hardest thing I had to do.
Several didn't get it at all. They would nod their heads
"yes" and watched what I did. But a dull spot of question
remained on their faces. And when it came time for them to
give it a try on their own, they floundered in confusion.
If I didn't do something about the situation, the course
would fail on this point.
That's when The Upload Pal was born.
The Upload Pal completely bypasses FTP. It is one script
installed in the cgi-bin of the student's web site.
Thereafter, all students had to learn was to click the
upload file field's "browse" button to find the file to
put on the server. Everything else about the control panel
was intuitive for them.
Web site designers, you'll want a copy. Download it from
/pal and install it whenever you have
clients who want to do some of their own site maintenance,
yet don't want to mess with FTP.
You could say The Upload Pal was field tested.
Viewing Source Code of Web Pages is Awesome
Something the students appreciate a lot is knowing how to
view the source code of other people's web pages. One and
all immediately see the potential for learning from others.
Then, the thought occurs that others can see their source
code just as easily. It's a sobering moment.
Wow, Colors!
Plain text is boring. But colors impress.
When text and background colors are introduced, there is
another spurt of enthusiasm, trying this and that and
exclaiming out loud when a dramatic result is wrested from
the HTML.
The End Of the Course
In spite of having lesson plans, the course is structured
informally. Students may skip a week or more, then resume
later. And they may quit at any time.
Some want only enough to make a personal web page where they
can publish pictures of their travels. When they have that,
they go home and play.
Others bound straight ahead, their curiosity about how to
do this and how to do that driving them. Those are the
people I usually introduce to style sheets and mention
JavaScript with its myriad possibilities.
All students get a short list of resources where they can
learn more at their own pace.
If you're interested, the course lessons, not strictly
adhered to, are linked at /classnotes
Remembering the Past
Working with and guiding the web page class, watching
enthusiasm grow and wane, seeing results of experiments
that would make web designers wince in pain, these things
reminded me of myself when I was first introduced to HTML.
One thing has remained the same. I still do things that
make web designers wince in pain.
It seems I have no web page design sense at all.
But I know how to write software. I know I'm a geek.
And I discovered I can teach HTML in a classroom setting.
Question:
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Will Bontrager
©Copyright 2006 Bontrager Connection, LLC Bontrager Connection, LLC
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