Stepping into web design - 5 credit course, 15 weeks @ ITSligo online

nearly

I hope it's ok to announce this here? If this isn't OK, I'm glad if the moderators need to delete this and point me in the right direction.

I'm going to be lecturing on a course- a 5 credit module, 15 weeks long at IT Sligo. I'll be using a blended approach in teaching. This means, if you're local you can come to the computer labs, but you can also participate in the lectures online, live. The lecturers will be recorded for review, as well as additional tutorial videos with Moodle for online discussion, document storage and assessment.

The course is starting in a 2-3 weeks, waiting for a final confirmation, but I thought it would be good to announce it here.

I posted the ideas about the ethos of the course on Creative Ireland I'm copying and pasting what I wrote there, since it pretty much sums it up.

I'm really excited about being able to offer this course online, as I think we can build a good learning community with the participants. I also think it's quite different from the yellow-pack courses available for people who can only take part in distance learning.

I hope this is helpful to anyone interested.

(below is a copy of what I posted on CI)

I think the old model of teaching: pop open someone's skull and dump in all the learning simply can't apply any more. Learning is a really active process and because the landscape keeps changing, people need to keep on top of the needed skills. Doing that is a skill in itself actually.

While you could certainly teach yourself, I'm a strong believer in formal education, and the framework for motivation and feedback that is built in. It's a great way to get a kick in the pants.

A part of the course I'm delivering will include connecting people to professional practices and resources, and helping them build life-long learning skills. I've gotten some good feedback from developers who have read my proposal on OSSBarCamp to interview practitioners about how they keep up to date on their own skills.

This recent article in A List Apart - Elevate Web Design at the University Level - 20 Jan 09 frames the problem eloquently.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/e...iversitylevel/

"Let’s face it. Technology moves fast; academia doesn’t. So how should educators teach web design and development—subjects that change constantly?... Teaching current technologies is critical. Equally critical is teaching that these technologies will change and that, for students to stay competitive in the real world, they will have to change with these technologies."

With that in mind, I am focusing on professional practices, in addition to the technical side of things. I'm assuming that people will be coming to the course full of beans and full of ideas, with lots of questions. And if they aren't I'm going to try and get them to that point. Because that is going to really make it easy for them to "teach themselves" after the 15 week course is complete.

This is a five credit module, which can be applied to further qualifications if you so choose. The entire course will be 15 weeks long. 2 hours of live lecture time, and an expected 2 hours of out of classtime work by the student, participation in class discussion forum, and contact with the lecturer (me!).

This is a very short space of time- and I'm planning the course ethos to be "Stepping into Web Design", touching on essential topics, reaching the important learning outcomes, and pointing to pathways for future self-study or further education.

There are also several optional 'field trips' I'm planning to invite students to. The DrupalCamp in Galway where I'll be leading one of two teams in a fun competition; the OSSBarCamp in Dublin where I'll be conducting research & developing learning material for the course, and an OpenCoffee event in Sligo (or Dublin/Limerick/etc) where the students can find collaborators and possibly clients for their final project. All the events are free, just need to sort out your own accommodation and travel.

A bit about me:

I have been working in a small arts organisation here in Ireland since 2000. At that job I've had to be a jack-of-all trades, doing a mix of working with young people, training teachers & artists; as well as graphic design and web development for our projects. I love teaching and learning, and I'm excited about making a learning community with the participants in the course. I studied Fine Arts for my undergrad, and busted by chops on Video & Sculpture; I did my MSc in IT & Education at CRITE in Trinity (how people learn and how to use technology to facilitate it, or at least not get in the way!).

You can email me hjames ~at~ itsligo.ie and find me on twitter
http://twitter.com/hjames

I'd be glad to answer any questions about the course from anyone else, feel free to PM me.