Refresh Columbia » Education

WaSP InterAct Curriculum

Jason Beaird — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:47:54 +0000

One of the many exciting things I learned about at this year’s South by Southwest Interactive conference was the launch of a curriculum project from the Web Standards Project. The WaSP InterAct Curriculum is a set of courses for budding web professionals divided into 6 disciplines:

InterAct is designed to be a “living curriculum” and will therefore adapt to the ever-changing web industry through community contribution and educator feedback. In a medium where everyone seems to have a different level of competency, the need for a standardized curriculum for web design/dev students is obvious. The main thing WaSP asked of the SXSW attendees was to spread the word. So I’ll pass the responsibility on to you as well: If you know of a teacher or trainer who could benefit from the WaSP InterAct curriculum, please let them know. Thanks!

WaSP: InterAct Curriculum

A List Apart: Issue 276

Jason Beaird — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:53:12 +0000

Issue No. 276 of A List Apart delves into a topic that I feel very strongly about: Web Design Education. Both articles in this week’s issue are well-written and provide a realistic summary of the challenges that exist in transforming today’s students into tomorrow’s web professionals. They both also paint a picture of hope through grassroots involvement and carefully formulated education initiatives.

Elevate Web Design at the University Level

by Leslie Jensen-Inman

Brighter Horizons for Web Education

by Aarron Walter

I’ve had the pleasure of meeting both of this week’s ALA authors and even had the opportunity to be a guest lecturer at one of Aarron Walter’s web design classes at the Atlanta Art Institute. Their words echo my own sentiments and the sentiments of many of the web professionals that I’ve met. My hope for Refresh Columbia is that it will fulfill the need for a connection between educators, students and professionals that Leslie talks about in the later half of her article. Please share any thoughts or suggestions you might have in the comments below, and I look forward to seeing you all at our next meetup on January 28th!

A List Apart: Issue No. 276

Flex 3 Class

Jason Beaird — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:41:17 +0000

Greg & Alex are teaching another cool class and asked me to pass on the details:

Due to the success of our ActionScript 3.0 course, and thanks to some great feedback from our students, we are preparing to hold a new class on Adobe Flex 3 on October 23, 2008 from 9:00-5:00.

Get started building Rich Internet Applications! This course will introduce you to creating Flex applications using the MXML markup language and ActionScript 3.0. Use Flex Builder to layout your data-driven application, add a skin to make it sparkle, and drop in some code to make it fly!

Knowledge of ActionScript 3.0 is recommended, but not required.

Adobe Flex 3 Hands-on Training

Thursday, October 23
9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Cost: $250 per student.

Guarantees you a computer, manual and one full day of structured, hands-on learning.

Location:

South Carolina ETV

Telecommunications Center
DL-5 Computer Classroom
1041 George Rogers Blvd.
Columbia, SC 29201
Get directions here.

Interested?

Respond to this email with the names of students interested in the class, or contact Thinkbug Media from the website, and we will get you set up! To reserve your spot, please register by Monday, October 20.

Know someone else who might be interested? Please spread the word!

Thanks!

Greg Lunn
Alejandro Baez

Making time for talent

Justin — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:45:34 +0000

Much like we aren’t born with knowledge of programming and design, aptitude, or talent, isn’t born-in either. Until recently, I didn’t quite grok this. Thanks to a fantastic book (Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain) suggested to me by Bob Wertz, the realization that talent isn’t innate, but rather developed was a pretty fantastic and inspirational one. Always wanted to learn to draw or learn to program? Head over to d’bug for your daily dose of inspiration.

d’bug: You have the talent. You just don’t have the time.

How do you like them apples?

Jason Beaird — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:07:17 +0000

Martin Ringlein uses the pointedly cynical “I got her number” scene from the movie Good Will Hunting to kick off an interesting post on the value of a college degree in web design. He offers some persuasive logic from both sides of the fence before opening the discussion with the question: “Is a degree in this field worth anything more than simply being able to say you have it?” The comment thread provides a comprehensive summary of the different positions people take on this topic, but I’d like to hear what you think: “Do you need a college degree to make it in this industry?”

Maryland Media: Do Web Designers Need Degrees?