In a world where twelve-year-olds are able to create an intricate social networking framework, many businesses have transitioned to nearly full digital marketplace capabilities, and where individuals become undoubtedly incapacitated by the loss of a wireless signal, it is safe to say that knowing the ins-and-outs of the web is not just for the techies anymore, it is a necessity for all.
If updating Facebook and posting witty, 140 character anecdotes to Twitter is the full extent of your digital know-how, this might help you make some online friends, but might not do as much in the realm of say, landing a job. If you are eager to get your hands on some HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and much more, the following sites can provide you with the tools needed to not only understand these under-workings, but accurately comprehend how to implement them. Some of these applications even go as far as providing job postings and assistance in landing a position that suits your capabilities.
So whether you are eager to learn these practices to assist you in finding the perfect career, or if you simply want to create a personal blog to write insightful messages and tidbits, the following nine, carefully selected sites can provide you with the tools necessary to accomplish your goals. The digital world is always changing, the only way to keep up is to adapt, grow and always keep learning.
Co founders Bruce Heavin and Lynda Weinman began Lynda.com to offer a space for individuals to learn and appreciate the digital space we all interact with today. Like many of the other websites discussed in this post, Lynda.com allows users to download a range of videos, books and documentaries covering over 100 subjects from 3D + Animation to Wireframing. Lynda.com focuses on what they call the three C’s: Conviction, Choreography, and Compassion. These three C’s provide a user-friendly experience that is not only educational, but also interactive; this allows users to easily navigate the content without becoming overwhelmed. Lynda.com stems from a network of talented professionals working with highly dedicated producers to provide much more than a learning video and more of an overall experience.
This self-called “team of hackers” has developed an educational tool which creates a community of teachers and learners alike, with a central focus of learning to code across various platforms, including, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, Ruby, and Python. Codecademy.com has has quickly made a name for itself with mentions in The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Forbes, and The New York Times following the launch of Code Year last January; even Mayor Michael Bloomberg decided to hop on board with learning how to code. Another distinctive aspect of Codecademy.com is the additional interactive element which allows peer-to-peer tutorial videos to further the accessibility of information and assistance. So whether you just learning how to code, or if you can share your knowledge with others, Codecademy guides you through the process to code across multiple languages while also providing a strong community to interact with and learn from.
Udacity views higher education as a basic human right, and with this principle, the site focuses on higher education at a more affordable cost. This premise has taken the site to reach over 160,000 users in nearly two hundred countries. The beginner classes can be classified as introductory classes for the eager student, whereas the advanced courses prepare students to tackle subjects such as program design and applied cryptography. Udacity does not exclusively offer web development and computer science courses, but provides courses in Business, Mathematics, and Physics as well. Udacity is dedicated to making the learning process a life-long experience, and through the Stanford University originated course program, Udacity gives all students the opportunity to grow and create a more intelligent world.
Treehouse focuses their unique style of learning through gamification in order to help the user not only get the education they need to be a successful developer or designer, but to assist the user in finding the right job. CO-founder Ryan Carlson states, “We plan on getting millions of un-employed or ‘under-employed’ people out of low-paying and unsatisfying jobs and in to higher-paying and exciting design and development jobs.” Through their interactive video and quiz based platforms, users focus on one of three areas, Web development, web design, or iOS. Upon the completion of each course, the user receives a badge to be displayed on their public profile. Companies such as Virgin and Disney have even signed up their employees for training programs. As Carson likes to put it, “A Computer Science degree might cost you $50,000 and take you four years to complete…Treehouse can give you the skills you need and a potential job at the end, all for $150 in six months.”
Another absolutely free website with an impressive amount of material is TutorialsPoint. TutorialsPoint provides users with an education in both technical and non-technical fields ranging from C/C++, Six Sigma, PHP, Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, HTML/XHTML, Python, and much more. Users can enjoy free tutorials and web references on these subjects, and more, along with the other 148 thousand users that visit the site every day. In addition, their online editor feature, similar to ones used by W3schools.com, allows users to input code while they learn and see what it produces. If you are a beginner looking for a good site, that is not too overwhelming, then TutorialsPoint is a good place to start.
It is hard to mention web development these days without mentioning Google. Recently, Google launched the Google Code University Consortium, which delivers training videos to their users from Google’s very own web developers. Lessons include HTMl, CSS, and JavaScript, from the basics to the advanced lessons. The courses are open-licensed and are classified as either a lesson or a set of lessons classified as a “class”. Lessons range in time and can run up to over an hour. Coming from Google you can only expect great things, and it definitely lives up to their reputation.
We know what you’re thinking, similar name to CodeAcademy.com, but actually CodeSchool is the “brainchild” of the Envy labs team. CodeSchool began as an interactive coding platform featuring Rails for Zombies, a web app cleverly named for its purpose to assist programmers in learning Ruby on Rails. For $25 a month you are granted access to all of the school’s resources and materials; in addition, there is even an option for businesses to enroll teams for training courses that several blue chip companies have also decided to do. Through gamification similar to that of TreeHouse, users will learn through tutorials, web references, online editor coding, and receive awards to mark their achievements. CodeSchool’s learn-by-doing mentality is difficult to disagree with, especially with a system that is designed to be both educational and fun.
Mozilla Developer Network (MDN) is a wiki where any user can feel free to create and edit content in order to keep information as honest and up to date as possible. Users can create videos, learn about many web development subjects, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and discover thousands of other documents traversing a number of different mediums. Perhaps the best part about the Mozilla Developer Network is that it is free to use and there is no certification for anyone that wishes to make corrections. MDN understands that sometimes people make mistakes, but they are there to help. While learning pages are available for the general public, in 2011 MDN added the Demo Studio where users can interact with one another and developers can show one another their code. If you are new to coding, or a current developer looking for a good resource, MDN may be a good community to join.
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