Term Project for 6A26 Seminar
by Murthy Mathiprakasam
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
December 9th, 1996
Introduction
With the fast-paced growth of the Internet, technologies such as the World-Wide-Web,
which previously were used only by a technical audience, are now
being utilized by "everyday people." However, the teaching tools used to
convey the use of these technologies has not been able to keep up with this
growth. The result has been that people have encountered this new
technology but have no feasible way of learning how to use it in terms that
they can understand.
The intent of my term project was to explain the fundamental concepts of
one particular technology on the Internet, namely the Javascript language. Instead
of immediately immersing the user in technical terminology, I have attempted
to present the basics of the Javascript language in terms that require
very little technical background. My ultimate goal is that people will be
encouraged to learn Javascript with my tutorial, rather than feel
intimidated by an onslaught of technical vocabulary.
Design Specifications
In terms of design specifications, there were only two major points. The
first was to ensure that the tutorial never became too technical. Obviously,
the tutorial had to include some basic level of technical language, but I
tried to find an equilibrium where the language would still be understandable
to the average computer user.
The second point was to make sure that the tutorial provided a thorough
foundation for Javascript, but did not delve into the specific details.
Once again, obviously, the use of specific details was sometimes unavoidable
(i.e. for the purpose of examples). However, as mentioned above, the intent
was not to teach the syntax of the language. The intent was to teach the
underlying theory, so that the user could later go on to learn the specific
syntax.
Implementation
In terms of the body of the tutorial, the presentation was fairly standard.
I did however make sure that two things were included in tutorial. First,
I included links to HTML guides and Form tutorials so that people visiting
my tutorial would have the opportunity to learn any material that they felt
they were inadequetly knowledged about. Once again, the purpose of these
links were to encourage people to use my tutorial rather than turning them
off because of a lack of knowledge.
The second feature was links at the end of the tutorial that led to
more advanced Javascript guides. My hope is that the tutorial will inspire
readers to further their knowledge of the Javascript language.
Challenges Encountered
The biggest challenge that I encountered in constructing this tutorial was
attempting to convey the ideas I wished to convey in normal plain terms. As
I said before, my intent was to minimize the use of technical language.
I found it very difficult at times to find the appropriate analogies to explain
certain concepts. Other than that, (i.e. like the actual constuction of the
web page), I had no difficulties.
Conclusion
Overall, I have enjoyed my work on this term project as well as my
experience in the seminar itself. Prior to this seminar, I had only
thought about the technical aspects of the World-Wide-Web. This seminar has
really helped me look at technology from a different perspective. In
general, I have really enjoyed the seminar and feel that I have learned a
great deal as a result of it.