(no subject)
I've recently become something of a teacher in the ways of t' web: I've been teaching my mother how to use Dreamweaver to craft her Very First Website (or two), and I've also been teaching a woman called Emma how to write a website in ASP.
One of these two has picked it all up very quickly, the other has been infuriating to the nth degree.
One of these two has done all the work themselves. The other has done sweet buggery-all to build "her" website, and so I have been teaching her how everything that I have written -- HTML, CSS, ASP and the database -- all work toegther to serve up her pages.
This is not a rant about Emma, such things will probably come at another time. This is a positive piece about how I think I'm actually pretty good at explaining how code works -- to receptive people, at least. And something I've had in my mind for a while is how nice it would be to be able to put on my CV that I'm an active member of some teaching community. It's also good for the old brain matter, as it makes you a) better at explaining yourself, b) re-evaluate the way you do some things. I did much the same things a few years ago on the Brinkster forums, but Brinkster isn't so cool any more.
So I signed up to Experts Exchange and have spent a happy afternoon (when not on the phone to the police) ploughing through some of the unanswered questions in the ASP section. It's not the ideal teaching forum but it's possibly the widest known and it will certainly stretch me sometimes. Thing is, it takes time, and in a working day time is something I wouldn't actually have. Still, it's nice to be able to explain something and see people say "thank-you" for that -- and award you the points, of course :) Mind you, it's a race to be the first one to answer something: blink and someone else will have got the answer in before you! Still, it's a good place.
One of these two has picked it all up very quickly, the other has been infuriating to the nth degree.
One of these two has done all the work themselves. The other has done sweet buggery-all to build "her" website, and so I have been teaching her how everything that I have written -- HTML, CSS, ASP and the database -- all work toegther to serve up her pages.
This is not a rant about Emma, such things will probably come at another time. This is a positive piece about how I think I'm actually pretty good at explaining how code works -- to receptive people, at least. And something I've had in my mind for a while is how nice it would be to be able to put on my CV that I'm an active member of some teaching community. It's also good for the old brain matter, as it makes you a) better at explaining yourself, b) re-evaluate the way you do some things. I did much the same things a few years ago on the Brinkster forums, but Brinkster isn't so cool any more.
So I signed up to Experts Exchange and have spent a happy afternoon (when not on the phone to the police) ploughing through some of the unanswered questions in the ASP section. It's not the ideal teaching forum but it's possibly the widest known and it will certainly stretch me sometimes. Thing is, it takes time, and in a working day time is something I wouldn't actually have. Still, it's nice to be able to explain something and see people say "thank-you" for that -- and award you the points, of course :) Mind you, it's a race to be the first one to answer something: blink and someone else will have got the answer in before you! Still, it's a good place.