I am participating in the new media design and web development program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), and I have been learning about the codes for web: HTML, CSS, actionscript, javascript and PHP.
Despite to read many times different sources as books, manuals and specific web sites for understanding the principle of these particular languages, I have been thinking in the necessity of learning using graphic elements to explain the content.
Why? Very simple, if an instructor uses a creative method she or he can explain these issues visually and graphically more consistent than a way based only in the codes as a method.
In my experience, we should learn using icons, symbols, combinations of colors and different sizes of groups of information. Basically, a metaphor can help us to understand better than have lots of blocks of codes.
Too many signs and combination of characters do that we lose the sense. All people that have experience in these codes speak about “the semantic web”. We know that exist methods more consistent than another.
Probably we lost too much important information only for a wrong way in that an instructor is explaining us these languages of codes.
Graphic designers and programmers should have a similar method if the work needs the same results. A good example is when we are in a building for first time and there are lot of floors, rooms and corridors. If we do not have a clear signage that shows us what is the direction it is impossible to understand where we are.
The logic always works after all.
