Web Development

Web development is one of the five IT pillars of knowledge, according to the Association of Computing Machinery's 2008 draft of IT curricula recommendations. Although I know HTML and CSS, my focus is on artificial intelligence and computation. Nevertheless, I enjoy Web development and have recently decided to apply myself to learn Web technologies now in common use, such as php, Java Server Pages, and perhaps even Microsoft's brand--ASP.

I am reading Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML and CSS in One Hour a Day by Laura Lemay and Rafe Colburn. It seems to be a very good overview of the many technologies that might round one out as a Web developer. I have determined from my reading so far that in addition to HTML, CSS, and general programming knowledge, one will need to learn php. With the addition of php alone, one should be able to link Web-based forms with server-side programs, *.php scripts, to do a number of cool things, including making database queries and carrying out complex tasks. It appears that if we could get a Web server to send a command to a host that runs our C, C++, or Java programs, we could deliver almost any solution on the Web. However, most Web hosts support php, and few will host your C, C++, or Java code without additional fees. Therefore, learning php looks like the very best thing to do if you can already write HTML and CSS files.

Lemay and Colburn's book is certainly not the only book that provides an introduction to Web technologies, but for me anyway, it is written in the right language, covers exactly what I need to know to feel comfortable and sufficiently informed to select my next technology and my next title, and as a paperback, it is a good value for $40 new and probably quite a bit less used.

Build a Computer

At the Rochester campus, eight students are already registered in the Winter 2009 section of NT230 Maintenance and Repair. Beginning in January, students in that class will be selecting new parts and building their own computer. At the end of the class, students will take their new machines home! This initiative is to ensure that students have their own equipment to demonstrate their skills and abilities.

Welcome

Welcome!

This first post is long so I will tell you what is in it real quick and you can read the parts you want. There are four sections in this post:

• About me
• Purpose of this site
• What is GEN?
• Rules

About me

My name is Mark Renslow and I am the Dean of Information Technology (IT) for the Globe Education Network (GEN) colleges and universities. Therefore the URL of this site is

IT-GEN.blogspot.com

URLs are not case sensitive, so you can also type "it-gen.blogspot.com" to get here and read my posts and make comments. My job is to keep the IT programs "in shape". I am a listener, a researcher, a thinker, and a creator of recommendations. I am not the decider, but I am close.

Purpose of This Site

The purpose of this blog site is for you to learn more about what is on my mind and also for you to give me some things to think about. Together, we can work and learn. I expect students, graduates and staff to be interested in the IT programs and the courses we offer as well as the plans we have for keeping the programs current.

What is GEN?

"Globe Education Network" is a term used within our consortium of colleges to describe the 17 campuses that we currently administer. Presently, GEN has campuses in Minnesota, Utah, and Wisconsin. Also, we have online campuses.

GEN schools presently include campuses with the following names:

Globe University

Minnesota School of Business

Utah Career College

All three colleges are nationally accredited and have Information Technology (IT) degree-granting programs. In March 2008, I became the head of these programs as well as of the Programming and Game Development Program at the Minnesota School of Business.

Rules

The rules are simple, but allow me to state the obvious:

1. Respect each other and assume that those who are posting here have good intentions.
2. Be liberal in what you read and conservative in what you post. Think before you click "publish post".
3. Emotional messages should be carefully considered before posting. Do not get involved in an emotional exchange with others here.
4. The purpose of this blog site is to assist in the learning process by providing a community forum for learners in IT and related fields. Posts that I determine are counter to that purpose may be deleted by me for any reason.

I look forward to hearing from each of you!