I finished watching the PHP and Basic WordPress classes on StudioWeb. The WordPress class was on another linked website even though you can't see it from the StudioWeb page listing. They both were good but now it is time for me to slow down and actually work with code. I have a practice site that is up and I will be going back through all the classes one video at a time to modify it.
The classes have helped with my job as a trainer. I work on a SharePoint site and being able to read code and copy and write snippets of it to different web parts really has made it a better site. I remember having to search Google for help and with that experience and these classes I think I am ready for this next phase of working with code on a practice site. Ultimately I would like to take a structured class at a community college either online or on campus. It would be nice to have a certificate or degree in web design and development. I took a HTML class online before at a local community college but it went too fast for me.
The beginning of the class went great but then I had already experienced and self-studied that material on my own before. It was the last half of the class that really got away from me. Of course that was the material that I hadn't been exposed to before. It taught me a valuable lesson, that at least for me, coding can't be rushed. Going to a class is a great way to test what I have learned and to see if I can finish the work quickly. I think school is important but in the end you teach yourself the subject. The assignments and tests are just a motivator and metric to help you. Good teachers and good learning materials are great ways to start your studies but somehow you have to explain it to yourself. So that is the part of the journey I am on now. I am definitely not at the end but I feel good about this beginning.
