STS class well worth it.

On Saturday, February 3, I attended the Software Training for Students (STS) class Dreamweaver in a Day. This was the first time that I utilized this free software training service and I will happily take another of the courses. Not only will I be able to apply what I learned in to the creation of a webpage for English 201, I now have the basic tools to create a website should I need to do so in the future. For example, about half of the students taking the class were graduate students assigned to manage their respective departmental websites with no prior experience or knowledge.

Admittedly, I questioned whether it would be such a good idea to (a) take four and a half hours out of my Saturday and (b) miss the Badger game. I reasoned that (a) it was only from 1-5:30 and that it hopefully would give me the tools I was hoping for and (b) it was just Northwestern. If you don’t have such an expanse of time to put into a software training class, there are plenty of other options that are only two hours long. Dreamweaver in a Day was designed to cover three two-hour classes in four and a half hours, which seemed well worth it to me.

Although they recommend that you sign up for a class as soon as possible, being on the waiting list should permit you entrance to the class that you sign up for. I signed up for the class earlier in the week and was placed on the waiting list. We were told that rarely do they turn away a student who shows up for the class. More common is to have students double up on computers to make room for extra students, but don't worry if you want your computer all to yourself. Once you've selected your computer, they won't have somebody work with you unless you volunteer. In the class I took, I think four computers were shared, including mine, and I don't feel that I lost anything as a result of working with another person. Rather, that person often can help you in the event that you miss an instruction or just can't seem to get the results you intended. Just be sure to show up about 10-15 minutes before the class begins.

If you plan to take notes, make sure to bring a notebook or print out the manuals that are available on the website before attending the class. The manuals that they provide are to be returned, and therefore, they do not want them written in.

As I said, I really enjoyed the class. Both of the instructors were great. One ‘lectured’ in the front of the classroom while the other was on hand to answer any questions and resolve problems. That afternoon, I learned everything from formatting a basic webpage to linking between internal and external sources to accessibility issues to CSS (cascading style sheets.) The instructors also touched briefly on HTML, noting that this was not an HTML course and throwing in a quick plug for the HTML courses that STS does offer.

The most surprising thing was how easily a website can be created. All twenty-something of us students were able to a website in as little as an hour or two. The remaining time was spent learning how to personalize webpages, making them more attractive and cohesive. Once you understand the basic concepts of layout and linking, you are free to play around with the numerous formatting tools to make your webpages look inviting and professional. [Note: webpage ≠ website]

I plan on taking another course—perhaps on iMovie or Photoshop. Both of these are potentially powerful tools in creating webpages and will greatly complement my training in Dreamweaver. Having training in these programs looks great on a résumé, and can do nothing but to better my academic and professional careers. Plus, since I’ll only be able to take advantage of these courses for free as a student for a short time, I better start doing so.