Just like a carpenter, web designers need to know when to use the right tools. A big part of designing is problem solving. No, I should re-phrase that, a big part of living is problem solving and we need more of these skills in life.
So, in a recent query I received, Brenton wanted to develop a blogging site comparable to this site.
WordPress will make your websites and you might want to look into making css code out of your PSD [PhotoShop Documents]. Check it out.
For the last few weeks, on Mondays, I get myself over to the new Ford Building on the Smith College Campus. Now, I’m the first to admit, I am not a programmer. However, as a designer I’m intrigued with development and thus am assisting Lou Franco with ‘testing’ some chapters of his soon-to-be-published book.
Lou has the patience of a saint. St. iPhone or St. Xcoder is how I like to refer to him. He is a great teacher! In class, he sometimes tends to run through code pretty quickly when he is showing examples.
Some of the stuff we cover in our workshop goes over my head….Lou does move thru the information. But I am happy-no, I am joyous to say, I get most of it! I mean, come on everyone has an idea for an iPhone app. A few that have just recently come to mind:
If you have an idea for an iPhone app [or iPad app for that matter]. Leave me a comment….maybe we can get started on one. After all, I have a classroom full of Techie-Developers all of whom I am sure would love to develop a iPhone app.
Another group I am happy & proud to be working with is The Institute for Digital Media Arts [IDMA]. I am creating a Web Design Diploma for them.
Fun and exciting times, online.
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I’m nearly complete with a Graduate Certificate Program I’ve been enrolled in since Jan 2010. I so enjoy learning and learning online…..well, I’ve been doing this since 1994. The current course is all about Project Management and we’ve been discussing Project Management [PM] Roles.
Speaking of PM Roles I am reminded of an old book, written in 1939, called ‘Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel Mary Anne.’ For those too young to remember, the story goes:
Mike and Mary Anne are a team and after many years of working successfully together, Mike and Mary Anne face competition from modern, diesel-powered shovels. Seeking an area of the country where his less modern steam shovel can still find work, Mike finds a small town that is about to build a new town hall. The authorities react with disbelief when Mike makes the claim that he and his steam shovel Mary Anne can dig the cellar in a single day; they protest that it would take a hundred men a week. Mike insists that Mary Anne can indeed finish the job in one day, though he has some private doubts.
At sun-up the next day, Mike and Mary Anne begin work and just manage to complete the task by sundown. However, they have neglected to dig themselves a ramp so they can drive out. A child who had been watching makes the suggestion that Mike take the job of janitor for the town hall, and that Mary Anne should become the boiler for the town hall’s heating system. Wikipedia
It just goes to show how our roles change during a project and how powerful stories can be when helping to solidify learning. Check out Mike and Mary Anne.
Having lived in Beijing for 15 years I could really relate to this report;
“In China there has been widespread education reform to extinguish the drill-and-kill teaching style. Instead, Chinese schools are also adopting a problem-based learning approach.”
Always adapting, the Chinese are masters at analyzing trends, seeking to copy and then improve. I remember Chinese education being delivered in the rote memorization formula. Those days are gone.
As Daniel Pink reported [frequent readers will note I really do respect Mr. Pink’s work],
“[Indiana University professor Jonathan] Plucker recently toured a number of such schools in Shanghai and Beijing. He was amazed by a boy who, for a class science project, rigged a tracking device for his moped with parts from a cell phone. When faculty of a major Chinese university asked Plucker to identify trends in American education, he described our focus on standardized curriculum, rote memorization, and nationalized testing. “After my answer was translated, they just started laughing out loud,” Plucker says. “They said, ‘You’re racing toward our old model. But we’re racing toward your model, as fast as we can.’”
In America we are having a Creativity Crisis! Research show that American creativity is declining. what went wrong -and how we can fix it.