Comments on: A different approach to web design education

By: Djava tech

Djava tech — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:41:00 +0000

Thank you, The given information is very effective. I’ll keep update with the same. website designing

By: Matthew Setter

Matthew Setter — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:05:00 +0000

Very well said. It’s one thing to see an example, see someone else doing something, hearing stories and so on. But to really ingest knowledge and to be able to process and ultimately improve it, we must all, not just students, both apply and experiment if we really are to grow as people in our education.

By: Djava tech

Djava tech — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Thank you, The given information is very effective. I’ll keep update with the same. web designing

By: Heather Boylan

Heather Boylan — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:27:00 +0000

I feel like I got a great education from the school I went to but I would agree that an initial environment with that level of immersion would go a long way. I also think would be a great approach for budding developers – it’s a difficult environment to ‘break into’. Employers are generally looking for senior developers and there are mentorship opportunities out there, but you predominantly have to develop your skills on your own (which you should be doing anyways).

By: Abby Foster

Abby Foster — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:25:00 +0000

Where do I sign up?

I majored in fine art in college, and have become a self-taught graphic and website designer. While I often think about returning to school to refine my skills, I find that the best experience so far has been through real-world work projects. Why spend the time and money going back to school if I can gain the same, if not better, experience finding free-lance work? Your hypothetical scenario would provide the best of both worlds.

By: Bradley

Bradley — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:59:00 +0000

I am a returning student. I finished my bachelor’s degree over 15 yrs ago. Now I am back in school to learn graphic/web design. I hate to say that I have learned more relevant material from online courses and tutorials than in class in terms of web development. The principles of design are what they are, and the main reason I went back to school was to learn these.

I think students need to recognize that traditional school is just a primer. Seek out your own information in your spare time. The younger students I know, I have encouraged them to try and learn a web language (PHP, ASP, whatever), Javascript, and become rock solid with the basics like HTML and CSS.

I like the idea of apprenticeships or mentor programs too. I have been doing architectural and engineering drafting for the past 12 yrs. My first job, I knew extremely little. My boss took a chance, and paired me with a very patient and understanding mentor. I owe most of my fundamental knowledge of drafting to her.

The unfortunate part is that typically bosses won’t take that kind of risk. I was lucky that my first boss was someone I had known for many years. Most people don’t have those kinds of experiences.

By: Rob Charlish

Rob Charlish — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:58:00 +0000

As a student on the FdA Web Design course at University Centre Wakefield, I am happy to report that this is how part of our course is run and is one of the major factors as to why I decided on this course. In fact it has been a core part of the course for several years already.

The current 2nd years are just coming to the end of their time accepting and completing commercial work, and us 1st years are currently at the stage of deciding how to structure our team, define job roles and establish day to day working practices and standards.

Not only does it allow us to experience all of aspects of the design process in a commercial setting but it also gets us networking with the local web industry to find out and explore working practices and organisational structures while also allowing us to build links with experienced professionals.

By: Raine Dragon

Raine Dragon — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:21:00 +0000

I’ve actually got an AA in Web Design from a local community college and a BS in Web Development from a university (class of 2009). The professors, at both schools, on multiple occasions, posed as factious clients, and had us meet with them as if they were clients and then design a website for their fictitious bike shop or antique shop. My senior year, we did internships and projects for people in the community (making games for a non-profit, making an e-commerce site for someone who had a local cottage business). On top of that, most students at the university level were working on side projects; games, blogs, start-up ideas, etc. Even so, I had trouble finding a job right out of school because everyone wanted experience in the real world in terms of a number of years. More hands on projects for real clients would have been wonderful, I’d be all for that… but at the same time, it doesn’t give one the ability to say “I have five years experience with x-company” which even the entry level positions were asking for.

By: Amit Kumar

Amit Kumar — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 12:26:00 +0000

Thank you, The given information is very effective. I’ll keep update with the same. web designing

By: David Sparks

David Sparks — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:46:00 +0000

I know there’s plenty of positives to this and there does seem to be something lacking in the current level of education at university level. My biggest issue here would be clashing with and undermining local firms.
I believe there’s a similar thing at Lancaster Uni – though it may not be within the course structure, it is possibly more a post course business incubation type thing. Anyway it has led to some local business being priced out by these not for profit type businesses and causing friction with local business. I think there would certainly need to be a degree of working WITH the local business community.
It’s not something that would effect big established businesses but working at a not for profit level would cause problems for freelancers and local start ups who would be around the same price points.