Goodwin College Adds Coding and Web Development Academy to Continuing Education Offerings

Is it time to bring your coding skills to scale?

Stand out in the ever-changing work landscape with practical web development experience from Drexel University Scale Academy. Scale, a new coding and web development offering within the Goodwin College of Professional Studies will arm students with the knowledge needed to expand their expertise in web development.

Scale offers a 10-week part-time non-credit course, “Web Design Concepts and Development,” created specifically for career-oriented professionals looking to advance their knowledge of building an online presence. The course will be available in Drexel’s second term, starting Monday, Jan. 9, 2017.

“I want this class to be a stepping stone for growth – we won’t stop at simply teaching the basics of web design, but also how to research development topics independently,” said Jonathan Levine, a Scale instructor. “Seeing how developers approach projects and challenges conceptually, beyond the coding itself – will serve students well in a field that is ever changing. As the necessity to code has crept into nearly all forms of businesses today, it’s best to be ahead of the curve before technology passes you by.”

Through Scale, students will learn to use the various components of front-end web development including HTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and JavaScript – enabling students to build a basic, yet unique and dynamic, website that will gather content from the API (application program interface) of favorite websites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and more.

Students will be taught the fundamentals of web design and development, as well as how to use CSS and JavaScript Libraries. By observing how web designers and developers address situations in the modern and professional world in primarily lab-based lectures. Students will learn first-hand how to apply their skills in the real-world environment.

“Goodwin College has a long history of providing non-traditional education to the working learner and our efforts behind Scale highlights our commitment to that student population,” said Tim Gilrain, Executive Director of Goodwin College of Professional Studies. “The initial course will provide individuals with the basics, offering the opportunity to build on key concepts down the line, providing a strong basic foundation which is vital to the program.”

Coursework during these labs will lead up to a cumulative final project that will be built on knowledge gained throughout the course, with a goal of providing a broad view of front-end web development in a professional work setting. Each student will finish the course with a portfolio of completed work examples.

At the end of the 10-week course, students will have a strong familiarity with HTML and CSS, a cursory understanding of Javascript/jQuery and knowledge of general data handling in the form of JSON and APIs. Students will confidently be able to add several in-demand tools to their resume, including coding languages HTML, CSS and Javascript.