Once again, the New York Public Library offered a free course through its Tech Connect program that was of great interest to me. Similar to the Office Readiness course I wrote about in the past, one must attend an orientation, take a basic computer understanding test to determine readiness and eligibility, and be chosen by lottery for admission into one of the course slots among various branches. If chosen, one must attend twice a week for ten weeks and adhere to a strict attendance policy or face expulsion.
If you are interested in learning how to create websites, then Project Code Phase One is right for you. The lessons begin with basic HTML language and moves onto applying CSS styling. Each student creates an individual site following specific guidelines. Toward the end of the program, students are placed in small groups and must work together to create a group project. Once both requirements are met, students are invited to attend the graduation ceremony where certificates of completion and awards are distributed. All students who complete Phase One are invited by email to attend Phase Two in the future.
Before the start of the individual project, the instructor asked us to provide a theme. I chose to create a site about my passion: west coast swing dancing. For the group project, members must agree on a topic from a list provided by the instructor. My group chose a NYC landmark. Each of these two sites was formatted for wider screens, by the way, since the computer screens in the lab were wide. The group project was a joy as the three of us worked well together. Our page is shown on the screens behind us in the photo below. For my efforts, I was awarded the Outstanding Leadership award.
To get up-to-date information about the Project Code course, visit the Tech Connect page on the NYPL.org website.
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