Here’s a bit of the opening that I’m telling to this year’s DCI 110 class.
Obviously, this course is going to be very different from how I would teach an in-person course. But I’ve been working all summer on preparing this virtual experience for you. I’m very excited about teaching this way, and I hope that you find it a positive experience.
The course will make heavy use of canvas and there will be a lot of videos like this that I’m creating for you. I have another video that goes over the structure of the course. But first I want to outline what this course is about.
It’s web programming for nonprogrammers. Let me say that again, for nonprogrammers. I don’t expect you to have any knowledge of computer science. You may even be intimidated by technology. That’s fine. I was like that as an undergraduate….a very long time ago. I have designed this course to build your confidence in learning how to code.
A lot of this course is about computational thinking, because programming is problem solving. Programming is solving problems with computers. And this course is about web programming. The Internet is something we all use everyday. It’s what making this virtual course even possible.
By the end of this course you will have some idea as to how apps you use everyday actually work. Now, let’s be honest, with one course: you’re probably not going to be ready to start developing your own apps. But you will understand the concepts behind the technology. You will begin to understand the possibilities of technology. And most importantly, you will have gained the confidence that you can teach yourself anything you need to know about technology.
Technology is always changing but there are foundations and core concepts. Everyone who is successful in working with technology has learned how to learn on their own, how to teach themselves. And that’s all about a mindset and having habits of mind that help you to break down complexity. In this course, I’m going to help you learn to develop that mindset, how to develop those habits of learning. And that’s going to be very useful for you, not just in this course but in other courses and throughout your life.
So, if you worry this course is going to be too much for you: don’t think that. You can do this. And I’m here to help you. Even though this is a virtual course, we will have a lot of personal interaction online, including one-on-one conversations.
Let’s get started!