We study internet basics. We go over rudimental web page topics, such as links and alignment. Text size. Although I already know a good amount of this, I am learning tidbits, picking up pointers, and become eager to get further along into the complex stuff. What's that saying, "Be careful what you wish for?"
The first real challenge arose when we studied Tables. I just didn't grok it. And then two things happened simultaneously: work got insane, with tasks and projects and partnerships and financial matters, legal matters, all that everyday sort of stuff we know of as the business world. And the midterm was approaching and I had no time to study. Egad!
Adding to this mayhem was a urgent need to build a page to meet a need for one of my clients. And, wouldn;t you know, it required trables. TABLES!. Well, the good news is that we were studying this in Sam's class. The bad news is that I set a deadline to complete this web page project the same week as the midterm.
The midterm wasn't so bad, except for flubbing the tables questions. And one or two of the multiple choice questions confused me (like binary or not?), but using the tools to which I've become accustomed (for FTP, editing, et al), I knew that in real life these questions were of minimal impact to me. And as an SPCS student, I am here for my own growth and edification, not for a mark that would impact my GPA.
As for that deadline and the page for that client -- I figured out tables(!!), using Sam's lecture notes, the text, another book I have on HTML, and some resources on the web, and applied what I'd learned. The outcome: a page that works, meets my client's needs, and gives me a feeling of accomplishment. The course pays off! I could not have made that page had I not been in this course.
But then a professional meeting came up, on a Tuesday, I had to be in Washington, D.C. And, alas, just as we were getting into CSS, I missed a week. And the next week was Tuesday, April 11th, Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. This is tantamount to a religious holiday for me, we never miss it. But getting out of the stadium and into rush hour traffic landed me in class about 45 minutes late. Gee, 30+ years ago when I was in college I was never such a slacker!
So I am having trouble grasping CSS. And feel like I am falling behind. Now we get to Frames, which I am reluctant to use for SEO/SEM purposes. But it also seems that some Frames functions work better than tables. And Forms confuses me, although practice on my home machine shows it to be relatively straightforward. But CSS seems to have confounded me. And I have to use it for the FINAL PROJECT!
So, despite "real life" work overload, I cram. I study CSS and Forms and Frames. I begrudgingly write a Frames page to include in this Final project. And I realize that I can design from scratch. But, better yet, now I am able to modify, alter, or enhance what's already out there, that I've learned enough to be creative and to apply this new knowledge. So I go back to that page I'd wanted to emulate, and figure out the CSS, and even get an inkling about the JavaScript, too. Check out those navigation links on the right, and look at what I managed to do. I consider this class a successful endeavor!