First, hello, and welcome to the class.
During the first class session of a normal semester I usually say something like "I think you will find this course challenging but a lot of fun." The 'challenging' part will be doubly true this semester as we are adjusting to an online course. But I am hoping we don't lose sight of the 'fun' aspect of the course.
The first time I taught an online course was over 25 years ago when I taught Introduction to Computational Linguistics for the Linguistics Department at the University of Minnesota while I was working in a computational linguistics lab and living in New Mexico. This semester I still am living in New Mexico (Santa Fe) and will help guide you through the course material wherever you are situated whether it is in Virginia or elsewhere. (Keep in mind that I am on Mountain TIme!)
You will be
- watching video screencasts which explain the skills you need.
- practice these skills by completing tasks
- practice the skills yet again by completed projects which run on a cloud virtual machine
- complete a core competency timed coding project.
That's it. No quizes, no tests, no papers, no exams. Everything is streamlined so you can learn the material to be an effective backend developer in a short online course.
The content of the course is in the form of video screencasts from the Inquiryum Backend Developers Course. All the videos are focused on presenting skills you need to be a successful backend developer. The videos are grouped into modules covering
- basic SQL skills including installing PostgreSQL, creating databases and tables, and querying the database.
- basic Javascript and NodeJS skills so you can gain experience with writing backend code including how to use databases with Javascript.
- how to get your code running on a production server using Google Cloud virtual machines
- how to write a basic front end using NextJS.
In tasks, you are provided with a directory of code files. Some of the files will have code blocks that need to be completed. The code you need to write is relatively small. These tasks mirror what you learned in the video and offer step by step guidance on how to complete the work.
Projects (aka rudiments) have very few step-by-step instructions. Instead an API is usually specified. There may be a video showing you how the finished application should look. You need to design and code everything, from the database itself to the Javascript code.
I want the course to be more than just you working through online material on your own alone in your room. I would like the feeling to be that we are in this together and have the ability to get help quickly from people. My son told me that during this coronavirus time, his work group starts the day with a Zoom Scrum standup and then keeps Zoom up while they work all day. That way, if someone has a question, they can get an instant answer. People mute, go to the bathroom, come back, get something to eat, comeback, but there is this sense of connection--they are working together on a common project. I thought that sounded fantastic and decided to implement this idea in Zoom study groups as follows
- The study groups are on Monday.
- Each study group is 1 hour long
- The group starts with a Scrum Standup. That means we go around the group and answer these questions:
- what did I do since the last meeting
- what will I work on today
- are there any impediments in my way?
- After the standup we just work on our stuff for the remainder of our time while staying in the zoom call.
- If you have a question you can ask it and get help from anyone in the group including me.
- There is a 8 person limit to how many people can be in a group. While I determine the membership of each group, you can request to be in a group with specific people and I will try to honor that request.
These study groups are optional, but if you wish to participate you will receive a 8% bonus on all work provided you attend 75% of the study groups. If you wish to commit to this, there is a section on our signup form