Course Studies
ART 225
Introduction to Graphic Design
Syllabus
Graphic design, its history, imaging and the elements and principles of digital design in visual communication. An introduction to computer graphic design production tools and processes in visual illustration.
When I started towards my Web Developer ATA, I dreaded the Graphic Design course. I can be artistic when it suits me, but hardly ever on command. It did not help any that my college advisor told me that students find this course to be the most difficult if they are not very creative. I was pleasantly surprised and learned the most of any course during my time at Edmonds in this course. I learned the principles of design including Unity, Balance, Hierarchy, and Contrast; principles that I use every time I design or develop a website now. I also designed my own logo that I use for my personal website and business cards that I plan to have printed here soon.
CIS 141
Introduction to Web Development
Syllabus
A foundational course intended to familiarize students with the history, organization, technologies, development cycles, and ethical standards of Web development.
I went into this course expecting to start learning HTML, so I was surprised to find out that we would be learning more about the history, standards, and organizations of the web as well as some basic project management skills as they pertain to web development. I learned about the different roles that are needed if a company is planning to design, develop, and host their own website. Other than the obvious web designer and web developer roles, there are site analysts, database administrators, site managers, server administrators, network engineers, and search engine optimization (SEO) analysts. The major assignments for this class, the Statement of Work and Site Specification Document, were very valuable as I may work as a freelance web developer while searching for the perfect job.
CIS 233
Systems Analysis
Syllabus
A practical approach to real world systems analysis and design. Includes the systems development life cycle, structured methodologies and project planning. A case study project is analyzed, requirements are written and a systems design specification document is prepared.
The course requirements for the Web Developer ATA at Edmonds are very well structured. The courses that do not directly teach a web technology or software program have a heavy project management influence. Systems Analysis was one of these courses. I learned valuable skills and information about working as a part of a team as much as I learned about the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). I also learned that my analytical nature and writing ability opened another job opportunity for myself as a content or technical writer. This course only covered the Systems Planning and Analysis phases of the SDLC and I regret not taking the Systems Design course to learn about the Design and Implementation phases, but I felt real-world experience was more important so I completed an internship instead.
CIS 241
Web Development I
Syllabus
Website development using HTML5, approached from a source code perspective. Covers tags, forms, linked objects, CSS3, frames, tables, and introduction to the use of scripting. Students build multi-page websites.
I learned in this course what I expected to learn in CIS 141, which was the basics of HTML and actual coding of webpages. Each assignment focused on specific aspects of building webpages, such as forms, tables (which are NOT to be used for styling a webpage), audio, and video content. This was intended to culminate in a final project that incorporated all of these elements, but there was the option to take the Site Development Associate exam and earn the certificate from CIW. This was the option that I chose and why my coursework pales in comparison to other courses. I learned the most about the W3C and following their industry-accepted standards from this class, which is understandably important as I see more real-world examples where the standards were not followed.
CIS 242
Web Development II: JavaScript and jQuery
Syllabus
Students will explore the topics of embedding, inline and external scripts, functions, form validation, loops, conditional statements, strings, numbers, DHTML, and an introduction to JavaScript Frameworks. Students build multi-page Web sites using these technologies.
This was one of the most anticipated courses for me, as I had already started to build my own website and I got a taste for programming from CS 115. I listed algorithms as an interest of mine outside of school and I am writing those algorithms in JavaScript. It is one of the most popular programming/scripting languages today and is being used in more and more applications every day. JavaScript has been used for writing desktop applications and programming robots, but my interest in it (for now) is to add interactivity to webpages. This course focused on standard JavaScript rather than the countless frameworks available, which I appreciated greatly. I want to master the core JavaScript language before worrying about frameworks such as jQuery and Angular. The ability to read and decipher another developer’s code is not something traditionally taught, but it is very important and the weekly challenges in this course force students to do just that.
CIS 243
Web Development III: Introduction to PHP
Syllabus
Topics include server-side scripting for Web pages using PHP. Students will learn fundamentals of PHP scripting including functions, logical structure, and database connectivity used in creating websites.
When JavaScript was mostly considered a front-end scripting language, PHP was the solution for back-end scripting and database connectivity. I immediately noticed the similarities between the languages, but the ability to write HTML code directly in a PHP file quickly differentiated the two. I wanted to understand the database connectivity more than anything else in this course, so I was excited to find out that we were taking the final project from JavaScript and building upon it by adding the ability to store customer and order information. There was an option to build an administrative portal for this final project that allowed users to complete orders and see all the orders completed on that date. I did not get a chance to incorporate that into my final project, but it is something I plan to complete as a side project to further my understanding of PHP.
CIS 244
Web Development IV: Introduction to Joomla! and SEO
Syllabus
Students will learn to work with open-source content management systems (CMSs) and search engine optimization (SEO). Topics include Joomla!, installation of Joomla!, creating and updating content, and SEO concepts and techniques. Students will apply these topics while building multi-page websites.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a very important aspect of web development and e-commerce. People demand instant access to information and if a website does not appear at the top of Google search results, that company is losing potential revenue. I learned how websites are ranked in Google search results and SEO strategies to improve ranking. Immediately after learning this, I had to implement these strategies in my own website built on the Joomla! CMS. I had been (very slowly) working on my own website before taking this course, but after learning how easy Joomla! was to use and choosing my own premium theme from YooTheme I built my personal website as my final project for this class. That website is now hosted through Blue Host using my domain and can be seen at www.wjhurley.com. I furthered my understanding of Joomla! and particularly the Nite theme when I began an internship for Washington Expungement Services, a small business that provides criminal record expungement/vacation services locally. Using a Microsoft Azure subscription provided by Louis Ho, I have their website temporarily set up at wesmodern.azurewebsites.net.
CIS 245
Web Development V: Introduction to Cascading Style Sheets
Syllabus
Students will learn the details required to combine CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) with HTML, XHTML, or XML to create rich, powerful websites. Topics include: selectors, cascade and inheritance, text and font manipulation, layout, and positioning.
Just as JavaScript is valuable for adding interactivity, CSS is valuable for adding visual appeal to a website. CSS is becoming more and more similar to JavaScript as it can be used to add animation to a website and when used with preprocessors, it supports variables as well. Preprocessors are not covered in this course and there is already plenty of information to digest without them. CSS is the reason that I dragged my feet on building my own website. The biggest obstacle that I faced was trying to understand specificity. Specificity and the CSS box model were the two biggest takeaways from this course. A beginning web developer cannot survive without a proper understanding of either of these concepts. For the final project, we had to replicate a brochure created in Microsoft Word, which was a great way to practice the concepts learned throughout the course. The project has real-world applications also because there are businesses that use Photoshop to design a website and then the web developer is expected to recreate the design using HTML and CSS.
CS 115
Introduction to Programming
Syllabus
An introductory course in programming using VB.NET. No previous programming experience is expected. Topics include designing, creating and debugging interactive, event-driven programs with a graphical user interface and developing problem solving skills.
Introduction to Programming was a great course for introducing the concepts of object-oriented programming. This class sparked my passion for algorithms and as I dug deeper into JavaScript, I realized why Visual Basic is the chosen programming language. JavaScript requires a web developer to write the HTML code for the forms and other elements that you wish to manipulate. While Visual Basic is not widely used in web development, it is a good language for beginning web developers because forms and other interactive elements can be created using the Graphical User Interface (GUI) in Visual Studio. This allows the student to focus on the most important aspect, which are the programming concepts.
MGMT 270
Project Management I: Project Scope and Requirements
Syllabus
Learn the basics of working in a project team. Students create plans that identify project scope, constraints, stakeholders, and risks, then explore customer needs and requirements. Includes an introduction to scheduling. Team and communication skills strongly emphasized.
I did not look forward to taking the Project Management course. I took it last summer, which was only my second quarter in the Web Development program. At the time, I did not see how it applied to my career field. I took CIS 141 and CIS 250 the previous quarter and had completed project management deliverables without even realizing that was what they were. Those courses greatly prepared me for the final project for this course, which was a Project Charter. I have natural leadership abilities, but I never volunteer to be the leader. This course was no different. I sat quietly by while someone else assumed the role of leader. As the quarter progressed and I realized that I was already familiar with the project management concepts, I became more vocal and helped to direct my team towards a successful final project.