Teaching web design
Last term, I taught a class I hadn't tried before, called "putting your portfolio on the web". The idea was to teach just enough design for students to come up with a great site design, and just enough Adobe GoLive that they could build the site.
I was, frankly, terrified at the prospect. Neither of those subjects are particularly easy to cover by themselves. Cramming both of them into ten weeks was, I felt, going to be risky.
I made a few mistakes over the course of the term. On the first night, I gave out a handout explaining the structure of a web page, and talked people through it, but I didn't really explain it in terms that made any sense. I also probably relied too much on the book teaching them what they needed to know for the first few weeks. What I'll probably do next term is start on the first night with a more coherent lecture on how web pages are put together, and demonstrate that in GoLive.
I should probably also have spent more time over the course of the term demonstrating what they were going to do in homework that night, and making sure the next week that people understood what was going on. It was clear by week 10 that asking "did anyone have trouble with the homework" didn't really get people to discuss the troubles they were having. To some extent they're all adults, and if they're having trouble they should talk to me; on the other hand, it's my classroom, and if they're not learning, then it's at least partially my fault.
I also did some good things. My best idea was to have them bring in a portfolio web site every week for us to critique. This worked better than I had hoped. The process of looking at other people's sites, really looking at them, and tearing apart the graphic design, navigation, flow, usability, etc., taught them about design in a deeper and more holistic way than I possibly could have otherwise in 10 weeks.
Another good idea was for me to think of the class as though I was taking them through the same process I would take them through if they had hired me to design a site for them. We looked at their work and talked about their audience, the feel of the work, and how to show that message most clearly. I explained about gathering materials for inspiration and had them bring in some materials. That proved to be a great exercise -- it helped to show whether they were on track in their understanding of the work and the direction they wanted to take it, or if they had to go back and think harder about what their work was saying. By guiding them through the process of design discovery, especially in a group critique setting, they were able to see things in their work that they wouldn't have on their own.
Was it all a success? I think so. One comment from a student during the last class was that "all of these sites seem really personal, like they really fit the work." Another student, who came into class with a clear idea of what she wanted, and just wanted to learn how to build the site, left the class with an entirely different design, and was delighted.
Not all of the sites are up yet in their final form, but here's three out of five final sites. I'm delighted with them, and happy to see that the combination of great students and some good ideas on my part worked so well:
www.andreajwalker.com
www.nicholasduers.com
www.noellephoto.com
Now, on to next term and not repeating my mistakes!