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Courses for HS Junior interested in Web Development Career
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 9:05 pm
by The Monkey
Hello there,
I'm a homeschooled 10th grader interested in a web development career. Since I'm homeschooled, I have some flexibility in a few of my courses, and my mom / teacher has informed me that I have two open classes in next year's schedule and that I am welcome to choose one or two web development courses if I want.
The first thing that popped to my mind was an object oriented design course, as I have seen that it is a huge undertaking to "master", if mastering it is even possible - yet I would love to be able to use it to its fullest.
Another class that might interest me would be graphics design, because I generally design my websites with zip-graphics, including no logo, mainly due to lack of experience in that area.
The final idea that came to my mind was usability - user interface design.
If any of you had any thoughts, ideas, or advice on courses that would be beneficial that you would like to share with me, I would be most grateful.
- Nathaniel
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 9:30 pm
by John Cartwright
Seriously man, I don't know where you come from the skill level of these so called web development programs. I took all kinds of different courses in highschool, and I realized how basic their teachings are.. was a big waste of time considering their curriculum was designed several years ago. Several years ago in this industry is the difference from a newborn to a grandparent. Sure, take if it is what you are interested in, after all you want to take classes you can apply yourself to but keep in mind if you are going to make better of your time in a different class, lets say Calculus.
I am almost completely self taught, and personally I find it a more efficient method of teaching to learn by example -- being active in programming forums, reading tutorials, etc, rather than having a teacher teach at a class pace, rather than your own.
Sure certificates look good at the end of the day, but most of the high school programming courses arn't really at their full potential as of yet.
I appologize if your schools have excellent programming courses, this is just my experience.
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 11:54 pm
by Vicious
Ive noticed that high school computer classes are very low of actual coding. I took a Visual Basic class and we did just the basics. Most we goto into was arrays and 80% of the class didnt get it. The high school classes is mostly just a taste of the actual coding and usually is just a way for a student to see whats its like and maybe further theyre knowledge in that area if they ever wanted to.
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 12:13 am
by infolock
Phenom hit the head on the nail. however, if you have no understanding of OOP, it would be a very good idea to take it if you can't seem to learn it on your own. it will at least give you an insight on how OOP works, and open the doors for you to master it further if you so choose.
as for the second class, i would definatley look into XML.. XML or DHTML, which are very powerful additions you can impliment into almost any web page to make the most of them that you possible could..
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 12:52 am
by feyd
Odd.. my high school had a really good computer science course. First year was mostly basics as it was a required course, thus written for the lowest common denominator, for the most part. First year was Pascal at the time, second year was C, third C++. Fourth year we got to do whatever we wished.

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 12:55 am
by infolock
you lucky, lucky man... i went to a school in se ky and so we didn't even get a computer-related class going until around my junior year (though i already had about 3 years of novell experience from hacking their networks

). Sadly, our *introduction of computer programming* class was that of Basic , which lead to Delphi 3.0

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 1:01 am
by feyd
I wouldn't know what was taught in "computer literacy," as I tested out..
We got new computers on my second year, which updated the machines to pentium level, instead of 386's...
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:58 am
by n00b Saibot
It is from this year that they've started in teaching
Java &
Linux from class 9th onwards. Only a few years back, all we had was BASIC. grrr.

I am wholly self-taught in all of the programming languages i know C, C++, Java, Perl, Python, PHP etc.
C++ I had in 12th grade but rest all.... come by working it out.
And I totally agree with Phenom's point that it will help ya better to learn yourself @ your own pace rather than in a classroom. They literally let on avalanche of THEORY (

) on simple, unassuming students which just goes tangent to their heads.
Anyways, If you have any problem understanding the basics or the learn-by-book/examples method is not your forté then Classroom Teaching is definitely the best for you. Go ahead and join any...
feyd wrote:I wouldn't know what was taught in "computer literacy," as I tested out..

lol, reallyFeyd, "Computer Literacy" are the classes where the
Teacher learns "what is a computer" and the students are there just to watch him do so... wondering what the heck is ever talking about... thinking whether any of the mental asylums are located nearby...
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 7:05 am
by The Monkey
Woa, funny that all of you guys thought I'd be in a classroom. A "course" for me consists of studying in my room, and provided I attain at least a B on the tests and finish a course by the end of the school year, I pretty much work at my own pace.
That said, all of the courses I have seen (started researching late last night) pretty much agree with you guys assesment anyway - laaaaaaaaaaame easy stuff.
I am almost completely self taught, and personally I find it a more efficient method of teaching to learn by example -- being active in programming forums, reading tutorials, etc, rather than having a teacher teach at a class pace, rather than your own.
You're probably right. I have learned all I know now through learning by doing.
Anyways, If you have any problem understanding the basics or the learn-by-book/examples method is not your forté then Classroom Teaching is definitely the best for you. Go ahead and join any...
No, that's not the problem. I was hoping there would be an in-depth course for OOP, for one. I'm doing my best to learn OOP on my own, but I'm getting to the point where I have to have my personal website online - I no longer have the luxury of tearing it down over and over. Once I get it "done", though, I'll probably continue to rebuild it using a development folder.
Thank you all for your help, it is much appreciated!
- Nathaniel
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 7:52 am
by brandan
if anything it's an easy a, so it wouldn't hurt. you get some good direction, and contrary to popular belief not all information on the internet is brand spanking new.