If you want to become a web developer, but learning in a traditional classroom setting doesn't appeal to you, Hocking College’s new Website and Application Development Program Manager, Wided Salhi, might change your mind.
In August 2017, Professor Salhi joined the Hocking College staff as an adjunct professor.
Professor Salhi has a Bachelor's Degree in computer science with a concentration in web design and multimedia, a Master's Degree in information system management with a concentration in computer engineering, and has over nine years of experience in the web development field.
She plans to channel the same sense of passion that helped her become a successful developer into her teaching career at Hocking College.
As for her teaching philosophy, Professor Salhi hopes to convey to her students that her role as their teacher/mentor will not end when they graduate. Students should know that she “will always be there for them,” long after their time as students at Hocking has ended.
In The Classroom With Professor Salhi
Salhi's goal was to develop a curriculum for a web development program that would “teach students everything they need to know to build a career in web development.”
Her curriculum plans to cover topics like the process for creating a website, how to write code, how to construct a HTML page, an introduction to CSS, and how to write a JavaScript Program.
However, her main objective was to create a program geared to attract students who might otherwise let their lack of computer science and web design experience prevent them from signing up for her classes. All any student needs to succeed in her classes are “passion and a willingness to learn.”
This web development program aims to shatter specific myths about working in the web development field. Some of these myths include the notions that developers, by default, get to work from home, and or go into business for themselves.
In response, Professor Salhi counters that “only 3-4 percent of companies that hire web developers have them work from home.” That makes the possibility of more recent college graduates actually being able to work from home very unlikely.
As for developer’s striking out on their own, she went on to describe this option as being “very risky.” Professor Salhi added that the current state of competition for projects amongst freelance web developers is extremely intense.
The Focus on Hired Education
To combat this competitive landscape, Professor Salhi’s primary purpose in her classes is to stress the multitude of job prospects web developers currently have to choose from. Some of these options include the following: Mobile app developer, software engineer, database manager, back end developer, game developer, digital analyst and Java analyst.
According to Salhi, “The demand for qualified web developers is so great that most employers care more about how talented you are than how high your level of education is.”
This program prepares students to enter the job market in every imaginable sense. All of Professor Salhi’s students will receive instruction in creating effective cover letters, polishing their resumes, constructing their portfolios, and preparing for a job interview.
As an added incentive, students who enroll in Hocking's Website and Application Development program will receive a Surface laptop computer for classroom use and get the opportunity to create web pages for local businesses on an internship basis.
