DIY Web Development

Free Tools and Strategies for Library Instruction

by Bryan Brown, Indiana University Bloomington SLIS

We will cover:

•Why teach coding

•Understanding the

beginner's mindset

•The best free

resources

Who am I?

•Not a web

developer

•Not a teacher

•A recent beginner

So why listen to

me?

My Story

Learning from

lectures

My Story

Learning from

playing

3 Hurdles to Learning

•Anxiety

•$$$

•No

teacher

Overcoming Hurdles

•Remove anxiety

•Use free* software

•Teach, and reveal

other teachers*beer and/or free speech

3 Keys to Learning

good tools + good lessons + motivating goal = successful learning

The Best Lessons

• Understand time limits and what

can be accomplished

• Strive for conceptual

understanding before

implementation (demystify)

• The "What" and "Why" before the

"How" (30,000 ft. view)

The Best Goals

• Give realistic motivation (why

code?)

• Personalized projects mean

personalized interest

• Inspire further study and point out

"where to go from here"

W3Schoolshttp://www.w3schools.com/

HTML Doghttp://www.htmldog.com/

Codecademyhttp://www.codecademy.com/

The Best Tools

• Easy to use/obtain

• Free*

• Simple and/or minimal

• Support you as you grow

• BONUS: Multi-language

NotepadYou already have it.

Notepad++http://notepad-plus-plus.org/

TextEditYou already have this, too.

TextWranglerhttp://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/

Eclipse IDEhttp://www.eclipse.org/

NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!

What about servers?

• Not necessary yet, just open files

with a browser.

• Show off works in progress with

Dropbox

• Give them a fancy URL with

Site44

Using Dropbox to Host

Using Dropbox to Host

Using Dropbox to Host

Using Site44 to Host

Using Site44 to Host

Using Site44 to Host

Using Site44 to Host

Using Site44 to Host

Wanna see that again?

Go to:

http://iolug.site44.com/resources.html

to see all software, learning sites and hosting methods listed.

Questions

?