The name kind of says it all to those who know what it contains. This class was about the essentials of building a website. HTML & CSS are languages that can speak to a digital platform and translate it into visuals that speak to the eye and become understandable to the brain. The beauty of this class lies in its complexity, the complexity of learning a new language and speaking to a native speaker in that language. In this example a computer would be the native speaker. These classes also gave us leverage to be able to assess websites accordingly, so instead of hiring a professional in the future to develop and create a website without understanding it and giving him/her the space to charge large amounts just flew out of the window! I am now able to sit down with anybody, discuss the basics of a website and keep track of what is being said. I am also able to kind of estimate how much time it would take to build a website from scratch according to the expertise. HTML & CSS classes, therefor, proved to be valuable.
For those who have always thought that they are experts in looking for information on the internet, like me. Think again and that is exactly what this class offered. To my surprise I came across some very important elements, that actually influenced "My everyday way of googling". I used to just type in what it is that I wanted to know, explore or just find and voila! Yet that "voila moment" just did not always occur and that resulted in a "well there is no information regarding this" kind of attitude and the search mostly stopped. Information skills gave me the tools to look beyond that attitude, because ther is so much more to be found online. One of the things that I learned is how to break down my search into multiple parts to enlarge my chances for good results. This PSD proved to be very handy while looking for a subject for IWoB and afterwards looking for information concerning that subject. Do I have information skills? Yes, but there is always room for improvement.
I think, therefor I am! I would like to add: I reason, therefor I define! Not to be a philosopher, but this class clearly had a lot of phylosophycal elements that I just LOVED! This class was the kind of class that made me rethink my thinking, even though that is pretty good, if I may say so myself. By rethinking my thinking, I mean being able to try and go further without overthinking. The reasoning part proved to add substance to it, because reasoning is linking, organizing, defining and adding meaning to thoughts that would roam the mind as just thoughts. Reasoning can also give life to the thinking and translate it into concrete matters. Great thinkers & reasoners only made the 'Hall of Fame' because, just like I said earlier, went further than the 'average joes' like me. Still they were 'average' at a certain point of time. To fall back on the class without getting lost here, This class added to being open minded in such a way that I found some spare room in my mind which I could use. The socratic seminars, for example, are one of those things that create space for new perspectives and ways of thinking & reasoning that one could not come up with on his own. The simple idea of discussing a certain matter with a group of people, being open to what they say, adding arguments, explaining one's reason for an argument, is the kind of basic way of communicating that I think we lost beacause we tend to overthink and stuff a lot more difficult than they are. You could see this as a plea for more Socratic seminars.
I would lie if I said books. But that is not what this was about. No definite shocker after getting to know IBIS a little bit. Let's be honest about one thing: How could I develop my personal skills, if I am not able to find out what my roadblocks are? My weaknesses? My strenghts? My fears? My motivation triggers? The logical substance on this one is pretty overwhelming, don't you agree? I know I do! The lecturer showed me how to create roadblock free roads by simply getting them out of the way! The hell with them! How, you ask? Well, I'd like to give an example that lightens up a barrier that I came across while going through the first semester. Lack of attendance, lack of lecture knowledge, you could say I lacked being active and let's assume it is due to slacking (Not completely true). The primary barrier, also no shocker, was me! Assessing this and reversing my mindset concerning this matter made the first block kind of disappear, hence making the other one's appear. It became clear that sprinting towards everything I lacked in the first semester was crucial. All because of the way I learned to look on what is holding me back (My Backpack).
Two more classes, which were not part of PSD, but still added to my personal skill development, are International World of Business and Fundamentals of Business. They added up in providing essential whithin that has business elements. Scroll down for more information about these two lectures and my assessment products.
The name would actually imply that this class is about business nowadays. Far from true, we also dove into the history of business, the start of what shaped our economy nowadays like the industrial revolution and of course terms we needed to know and understand regarding business and economics like the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) (I had to look this up again, because it slipped my mind to be honest). What I also found interesting about this class is the coverage of alternatives that could reshape our current way of looking at our economy in a way that could benefit everybody like the sharing economy concept. Pretty divers and totally divergent from 'economy' lectures as I know them, enlightening! I won't dive too much into the details of the assessement, because I believe my product says it all. I could add that reaching is a combination of the skills I developed during the first semester (See my reflection)
My Assessment
This name, unlike IWoB, says it all. This was about what business had or needed to become thriving, leading and succeed. The basic structure for a business you may say. This also included different approaches that businesses for their success, but also covered what failures they came across. I had to learn how to look at a certain company and be able to see their key components, money making models, SWOT analyze it etc. I am not able to say a lot more about this class, besides that I failed it and very looking forward to nailing it nest year or sooner if possible.
My Assessment
