ISLT 7360

Course Description:

Basic web design and HTML. Covers file transfer and UNIX/LINUX servers management. Develops understanding of web graphic formats. Emphasizes user interface, navigation, and instructional design in building web sites.

Reflection:

​This course was easily one of the most challenging I had ever taken--and just happened to be my first for this degree! I will admit that there were times that first semester where I wondered if I had picked the wrong path for my Specialist Degree.

Before taking this course, I thought I knew the basics of coding simply from being trained in how to teach students coding lessons. I quickly realized that I knew next to nothing and that actually hand coding my own website was going to be a much bigger challenge than I ever anticipated. I had never even heard of an FTP before, nor had I ever had my own server space. I was very much a novice and completely out of my element as an elementary teacher. Having been the student that school has always been pretty easy for, this was a completely foreign feeling to me.

However, as the course progressed, I became more comfortable with the coding software and the basics of HTML and CSS. I am now confident in my skills and understanding of the web. I won't say it ever got 'easy' or without frustration, but I will say that I grew a lot in this course and not just in the area of HTML and coding. I really had to dig deep and persevere even when I was frustrated to the point of tears, and all I wanted to do was give up. It was then that I would think of the growth mindset I try to instill in my students every day--you may not be able to do it YET, but with grit and perseverance eventually you will do it.

So while this may seem like a strange overall takeaway from a web development course, I believe I now understand and empathize with my students more when they are struggling or frustrated and therefore, I can have more patience and find better ways to help them push through.