Building software has been on my mind for years, as I’ve seen many problems that could be fixed if I had just known how to program.
Then AI came, and it completely changed the software development game.
People like me, with minimal programming knowledge, were now able to create the software they dreamt of simply by explaining it to ChatGPT.
At least, that’s what I thought.
I’m no complete programming beginner, as I have taken multiple introductory programming (though mostly unfinished) courses since high school. Still, the basic knowledge I gained did not suffice for building full-fledged software.
I learned this firsthand while trying to develop a piece of software that simply downloaded a CSV file from a single website every day.
There were multiple instances where I had been passing error messages back to ChatGPT, only for the AI to spit back code that I had previously used with a different error.
Although I eventually solved some of my problems and deployed a working piece of code, the whole experience made me want to follow tutorials before starting out on my own.
But it was not long before I quickly realized just how big the knowledge gap was.
I began my journey by following various tutorials on YouTube, such as “Build A Finance Dashboard Using React and Tailwind CSS.” It would only be within the first few minutes that I would get lost, as the educator does things that are presumably common knowledge for anyone with a basic understanding of these various technologies.
I realized I needed to start right at the beginning, and I thought I might as well finally make use of the Coursera Plus subscription I’ve been paying for.
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Intro To The IBM Introduction to HTML, CSS, & JavaScript Course On Coursera
To start my journey, I enrolled in the IBM Full Stack Software Developer Professional Certificate on Coursera.
After blazing through the first two courses, I had begun the third course, the IBM Introduction to HTML, CSS, & JavaScript.
This course, as the name suggests, offers an introduction to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
It’s a four-module course with details listed as follows:
- Module 1: HTML Overview
- Module 2: CSS Overview & HTML5 Elements
- Module 3: JavaScript Programming for Web Applications
- Module 4: Final Project
Each module contains multiple videos and code editing labs to help you learn, with the first three including graded quizzes at the end, while the last module is one where you’ll have to code and submit screenshots of the product for grading.
The IBM Introduction to HTML, CSS, & JavaScript is a course designed for beginners, with an estimated completion time of 14 hours.
Was the course worth it? Well, here’s my experience and proof that I actually did the course.
IBM Introduction to HTML, CSS, & JavaScript Coursera Course Review
To be frank, beginners who take the IBM Introduction to HTML, CSS, & JavaScript will remain beginners after taking the course.
Having gone through things like the HTML and CSS portions of freeCodeCamp, as well as simultaneously taking some other full-stack developer certificates, I did have things to compare this course to.
And perhaps I may be a little brutal in this review, but the course just wasn’t as comprehensive as one might have hoped.
What I felt from this course was that it provided a basic understanding and ability to read the syntax of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, but it did not really develop any strong capability to utilize these technologies effectively.
Much of this was due to the way the coding portions of the labs and assignments were structured.
For most of them, you were just copying and pasting code that they provided into the area that they told you to modify.
There was no room where you could really test and practice your ability to think of the right solution in code.
The JavaScript and final assignment, in particular, were the most disappointing.
My goal was that by the end of the course, I would be able to follow along with one of these “build a web app” tutorials fairly easily.
Unfortunately, that was not the case.
I came into this course with HTML and CSS knowledge, but minimal JavaScript skills. I came out of this course the same.
In the course’s assignments, all the JavaScript code was already written out, and the most you were doing was adding a script tag to your HTML code to reference that JavaScript code.
Yes, you could read the JavaScript code and look to understand it as the educators suggest, but ultimately, you need to be actively trying to create solutions yourself to learn.
If I were to modify IBM’s Introduction to HTML, CSS, & JavaScript course, I would make the labs walkthrough tutorials where you copy the educator’s step-by-step instructions, writing the code from scratch rather than just reading or filling in the blanks.
Then, for the graded assignments, I would first add actual programming graded assignments for all four of the modules, rather than just the last one, and the assignments should challenge learners to accomplish certain tasks using their own solutions, rather than copy-pasting whatever the educators put on screen.
Speaking of the graded assignments, I did have some technical issues with the final assignment.
Submitting the assignment required you to take multiple screenshots as you progressed through the assignment, and then AI grades your assignment by analyzing the screenshots.
I had done everything correctly, and yet, the AI had marked the screenshots as incorrect. Ultimately, it was not too big of an issue as I received a passing grade, but I do hope the technology improves over time.
It also works in IBM and Coursera’s favor that you can switch to peer evaluation and have humans grade your assignment rather than AI if you are having issues.
Here’s a quick pros and cons section to summarize my experience with the IBM Introduction to HTML, CSS, & JavaScript course on Coursera.
Coursera’s IBM Introduction to HTML, CSS, & JavaScript Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy for beginners to get into
Cons
- Course content is shallow
- Labs were ineffective at building actual coding skills
- Possible AI grading technical issues
IBM Introduction to HTML, CSS, & JavaScript Pricing and Verdict
Now, the price of this course will vary significantly depending on where you live and how you decide to purchase it.
Nevertheless, I would not purchase this course as a standalone.
You are better off watching tutorials on YouTube or using free resources on the Internet to get your introductory content.
But if you happen to have to take this course because it’s a part of various specializations or professional certificates, that’s a whole different story.
Since I haven’t yet completed any of IBM’s Professional Certificates, I cannot comment extensively on them. I can only hope that the subsequent courses I take in the series go much more in-depth.
Additionally, those considering professional certificates and specializations on Coursera should generally look into Coursera Plus. Unless you’re specifically bent on taking just one particular program, Coursera Plus has the best value in that it offers nearly everything on the platform.
But back to the IBM Introduction to HTML, CSS, & JavaScript course, the verdict is this:
If you’re looking at it as a standalone introductory course, you will be better off elsewhere.
If you’re taking it as part of a professional certificate, then you kind of have to take the course, and in the future, I will for sure be sharing my reviews after completing the full program.
I would also like to mention that this is the first time that I’m reviewing a program like this on Medium. Any feedback and suggestions are highly appreciated!
This article was originally published on Medium. Click here to read on Medium.