Active: April 30th - May 9th
Final Due: May 10th @ 8:00AM
The goal for this course was to teach a diverse group of students how to incorporate JavaScript into front-end web development. Admittedly, this has been a challenging semester, as I attempted to create an online-only course that allows for students who have experience with JavaScript via the Creative Coding 1 course (MART120) and those who do not. I hope that everyone who has taken part with this course feels more comfortable with the JavaScript programming language. Specifically, I hope that you;
I recognize that some of the choices I made this semester did not work. As a result we went slower than I had anticipated and did not touch on node.js, which I had aspired to do with you all. However, I feel as though this slower pace allowed for the diverse nature of backgrounds to work individually at an appropriate pace. As of this writing, almost everyone is caught up with content and work. More importantly, the work I have received from you all this semester has been solid. You have demonstrated an understanding for the material and a willingness to problem solve. This last point is the most important. There is no way for you to learn everything possible in web development of even JavaScript. Instead, you must develop self-learning skills that allow you to acquire abilities or understand how to do something. This course was designed so that the first half of the semester was spent primarily with two sources, the Eloquent JavaScript book and the Mozilla Developer Network (MDN). Topics were presented with appropriate links to both sources, so that you would always have two unique viewpoints. The second half of this semester, you have received links to additional sources and sites where you could learn the required skills. This was intentional so that you would practice finding sources that work for you.
Another issue I have had with this course is fostering supportive communities for learning and questioning. This is something that occurs naturally in a classroom. I attempted to do this with the GitHub issues forum and the class homework submission forums. This allowed you a resource to ask questions, and a way of seeing how your classmates solved problems. These have been moderately successful this semester. However, I do intend to reconsider “best approaches” for this during the summer. I must commend you for taking it upon yourselves to engage in these forums and to create additional community opportunities, such as the Discourse and scheduled work sessions. These are critical and I am very happy most of you participated in these student-led opportunities.
I will be taking this summer to rebuild and iterate this course. If you have comments, thoughts, or suggestions, I would be happy to receive those. You can (and are highly encouraged) to submit anonymous feedback via the course evaluation, which should have been sent to you by now. I would also be happy to schedule time for a conversation in person or via video chat. Finally, if you would prefer, you are welcome to e-mail any thoughts or comments you have.
For this week, I want you to reflect on this semester, your future goals, and what you need to do now to meet those goals.
To do this, you will choose from one of two final project options. Both are designed to encourage you to consider what you skills you have acquired this semester, how they relate to the field, and how they may serve you moving forward.
For your “final project” I want you to either
These are both outlined in more detail in the next two pages. Regardless of the final project you choose, it is due May 10th @ 8:00AM. You will submit links to your final, in accordance with the guidelines on the next two pages to the “final project submission forum” within the course Moodle page.