Platform or Foundational Concept? Approaches to Teaching Modern Web Development
Web development has evolved significantly over time. In recent years, the nature of web development has shifted dramatically. The number of tools, languages, and concepts has exploded because of the shift back to the client. JavaScript is no longer just a language for writing event handlers; it now forms the core of client-side web development. It requires addressing a new computational paradigm. Furthermore, modern web development places a greater emphasis on the user experience and accessibility. In our experience teaching web development over the last few years, we have observed the need to rethink many aspects of how this part of our curriculum is structured. A one-semester course is no longer sufficient to cover the full breadth of material required. It is also not evident that stand-alone HTML is the correct starting point, so we have begun to explore integrating JavaScript and the DOM as the native language of the web. There is also the persistent view from some faculty that the web is simply a specific platform (emph{i.e.,} a set of tools) rather than a core educational concept of computing. In this birds-of-a-feather (BoF) session, we propose to have a discussion with other faculty who teach courses on web development to understand how their views, curricula, and methods have evolved. The goal of this discussion would be to share perspectives on how a variety of CS faculty approach this topic and to collaborate on future directions.
Thu 21 MarDisplayed time zone: Pacific Time (US & Canada) change
17:30 - 18:20 | |||
17:30 50mTalk | Platform or Foundational Concept? Approaches to Teaching Modern Web Development Birds of a Feather |