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---
layout: post
title: A perspective on the state of education (of the Web)
tags: [ design, personal improvement ]
type: post
published: true
---
This is a [ challenge
](https://twitter.com/mollydotcom/status/147234090603651072) by [ Molly
Holzschlag ](http://molly.com) concerning how the Web is taught around here.
Even though I tend to be opinionated, things have been happening that I
consider important to a better future.
Learning the craft of the Web has always been hard. It has taken a lot of
blog posts, trial and error, inspiration, books, <em>etc.</em> to slowly
progress; all of this... after hours.
You must get things done at daytime. Innovation costs time that doesn't exist.
At least that's what most companies believe around here in the last 5 years.
Money is all leaders see, there's not the time nor the money to delve into a
better process or a better performance. Why bother if the pay is low and things
are steady? This is a cultural issue and that might just be the hardest
impediment that our people has to clear.
## Academics is overrated
Our culture has been dictating over the years that the path to success must
include a college degree. It even includes <em>two</em> now, a bachelor and a
masters degree. If you achieve none of them, people will think you're an idiot.
That immediately lowers any expectations for anyone that decides to hire a web
designer or an open source developer (<em>i.e.</em> not Java / .NET). That's
probably one of the many reasons why websites like <a
href="http://clientsfromhell.com">Clients from Hell</a> show up. We don't
have <a
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Credit_Transfer_and_Accumulation_System">ECTS</a>
to prove our clients we can do our job as much as those that do have them.
The nature of the open web allows anyone to learn it and that is wonderful.
Resources are available everywhere, updated perhaps monthly. The community
gives their time, tutorials, references and screencasts. How will teachers
reassess innovative technologies such as HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript? What will
universities do with such a plethora of information?
It's pretty hard to embrace all this change, so volatile. Trying to enclose an
everchanging engineering is hurtful for both the enclosed and the enclosing.
That's my #1 reason to believe that teaching <em>the web isn't meant to be dominated by universities but by the community</em>.
## Education is underrated
I took a Computer Science Engineering degree from 2004 to 2009. Everything I
know on how to be a web standards designer did not come from that degree. I
have learned every semantic element, every CSS best practice, every bit of
jQuery from home, after school. Professors lethargicly give students the
W3Schools' URL and that's it, they are not required to know more. However, they
are responsible for the future of website and web application development,
would they choose to. They ought to know more than simple <code>div</code>s and
some background colors. They are taught how to give birth to a full fledged,
top-to-bottom application, from database modeling and systems architecture to
basic MVC. It seems to me that the V is left a little alone.
True education in its most pure and holistic meaning surpasses any established
rules. What matters is content and the apprentice's will to absorb it in the
way he feels it's best for him. Factory oriented learning — the one
that's implemented today from kindergarten to college — violates the
principle of individuality and it hurts growth. Sadly, achieving individuality
in the process of learning is utopic at this point in time and thus a
compromise must be reached.
All we have now is the free Internet. People still keep learning and sharing
after hours (like I am right now). Twitter allows us to keep up with the
brightest mentors such as Molly herself, <a
href="http://stuffandnonsense.co.uk">Andy Clarke</a>, <a
href="http://zeldman.com">Jeffrey Zeldman</a>, <a
href="http://adactio.com">Jeremy Keith</a>, <a
href="http://simplebits.com">Dan Cederholm</a>, <a
href="http://css-tricks.com">Chris Coyier</a>, amongst so many inspired
people that blog and speak about design, standards and application development.
I owe them my career, certainly not my college degree. I'm pretty sure most
good portuguese designers feel the same way, even if ever so slightly.
## Solutions
I have stated before that universities shouldn't raise the flag and shape the
whole web standards industry. However, there is the room and the need to
solidify the basic assets of web development. In fact, I totally support the
creation (if not an update; perhaps a branch on W3C?) of a unique place where
all these resources can be served with quality documentation and possibility of
debate, allowing universities to have some sort of reference of what can be
introduced in their courses and promote the best content to their students.
This not only:
* Gives future designers and developers' the right skills and techniques so
they can do their job like they never did before; but also,
* Increases the universities' reputation for their investment in practical,
meaningful content that helps students get things done fast and done well.
A great example of a standardized way of centering resources in one accessible
and friendly place is the <a href="http://rubygems.org">Rubygems</a> platform.
Unlike other programming languages, Ruby has managed to flagpole an idea so
great and no other language has ever made it this well. Sure, <a
href="http://pear.php.net">PEAR for PHP</a> is nice and <a
href="http://ctan.tex.org">CTAN for LaTeX</a> is huge but not has rewarding
and simple as the gem system. Everyone uses Rubygems, all the tools for
publishing Ruby knowledge are published through it; it builds trust amongst the
developer community and it's just amazing.
The effort of standardizing education of the web is being debuted in Portugal
with the birth of a post-graduation in <em>Web design</em> at <a
href="http://esad.pt/en/cursos/pos-graduacao/web-design">ESAD</a>. <a
href="http://tpwd.net">Tiago Pedras</a> <em>et al</em> have been working hard
so as to build a course that grants you ECTS points and also means something. I
look forward to hear from him and acknowledge that finally the bar is being
raised for everyone.
## Conclusion
After several years, our nation is finally taking its first steps to adulthood
regarding the craft of the web. Up until now, every designer was a nomad
messing around with what they thought they knew and stuck with it. Now there's
a chance for constantly embracing change and be happy about it. Let's look at
what has been done well in the last few years and consider the chance of making
the world a better place through creativity and care, one step at a time.
|
