Hi

 

I am currently taking the CIW Webdesign Managers Course and have finished the first foundations section. I have been on other forums and found mixed views on this course which is disheartening but I feel I have really improved and gained a much better understanding of Web design and all the stuff that entails.

So I was wondering:

1.) What peoples views of this course are (if you have even heard of it!) or if any one has taken this course and has come out the otherside?

2.) what, if any, course did people study to get into this area?

 

I'm guessing alot of you have learnt on your own from books and tutorials. I did try this but found it hard to motivate myself without a structure and always felt I might be missing out on somthing because I wasn't aware of it. So taking this course I can feel I'm getting a better rounded knowledge foundation to build on with my experiance.

 

anyway I'd be interested to know what others have done to learn and what they would recommend.

 

Many thanks.

Hmmm?? Guess not then???

Hi

 

I am currently taking the CIW Webdesign Managers Course and have finished the first foundations section. I have been on other forums and found mixed views on this course which is disheartening but I feel I have really improved and gained a much better understanding of Web design and all the stuff that entails.

So I was wondering:

1.) What peoples views of this course are (if you have even heard of it!) or if any one has taken this course and has come out the otherside?

2.) what, if any, course did people study to get into this area?

 

I'm guessing alot of you have learnt on your own from books and tutorials. I did try this but found it hard to motivate myself without a structure and always felt I might be missing out on somthing because I wasn't aware of it. So taking this course I can feel I'm getting a better rounded knowledge foundation to build on with my experiance.

 

anyway I'd be interested to know what others have done to learn and what they would recommend.

 

Many thanks.

Hi - I took a CIW Webmaster Course many years ago. I was originally doing corporate software training MS Word, etc and wanted to go into web design. Since I worked for a software training company, I had access to the manuals for free, studied the courseware, took and passed the exam. To be completely honest, since I am more of a designer than developer, I did find it helpful to learn about networking, but other than that, I'd have to say the best experience comes from just getting in there and doing it. And, I've never had anyone ask me for any type of certification.

 

On the other hand, it never hurts to learn something!

Hi - I took a CIW Webmaster Course many years ago. I was originally doing corporate software training MS Word, etc and wanted to go into web design. Since I worked for a software training company, I had access to the manuals for free, studied the courseware, took and passed the exam. To be completely honest, since I am more of a designer than developer, I did find it helpful to learn about networking, but other than that, I'd have to say the best experience comes from just getting in there and doing it. And, I've never had anyone ask me for any type of certification.

 

On the other hand, it never hurts to learn something!

 

 

Thanks for your reply. Good to know I'm not the only one on these forums!

 

I have to say I'm really not taking the course for any other reason than to learn (Obviously!) and was suspicious when they said ths certification was often touted in webdesign agencies!!!

 

Doing it anyway now so going to continue but also trying new stuff out and making lots of ugly sites till I know how to make smart ones!!

Hi,

 

I am doing the exact same course right now!

Im am on the Perl section.

 

From what other people have told me the certificate doesnt mean too much! If you havent got a good portfolio of websites behind you aswell.

I have learnt alot more XHTML and CSS online than through the course. I mean they still rabbit on about Netscape Nav!!!

Thats not good is it.

But, Ive paid the fee's so Ive gotta finish it.

 

Can i ask how much you paid for yours and who was it thru. Me = SkillsTrain and just over £3000.

I must have been mad!

 

I wouldnt exactly recommend this course to anyone. Learn it yourself on the net, buy books etc...

Much more up to date and a hell of a lot cheaper.

I was looking at this course a couple of years ago, but from what I could gather it didn't seem particularly modern (see above post) or particularly interesting.

 

I personally think people would be better off saving their money, and learning from doing, and from online resources instead

Hi,

 

I am doing the exact same course right now!

Im am on the Perl section.

 

From what other people have told me the certificate doesnt mean too much! If you havent got a good portfolio of websites behind you aswell.

I have learnt alot more XHTML and CSS online than through the course. I mean they still rabbit on about Netscape Nav!!!

Thats not good is it.

But, Ive paid the fee's so Ive gotta finish it.

 

Can i ask how much you paid for yours and who was it thru. Me = SkillsTrain and just over £3000.

I must have been mad!

 

I wouldnt exactly recommend this course to anyone. Learn it yourself on the net, buy books etc...

Much more up to date and a hell of a lot cheaper.

 

Awesome! I'm on the Javascript section!

 

Yeah I was wondering what Netscape Nav was??? looks like the last time the coursebooks were updated was 2004 so I guess thats why a lot of the stuff seems outdated.

 

Fortunatley my work have paid for my course fees otherwise I think I would be feeling quite cheated! yeah £3K sounds about right. not to mention having to fork out for the exam fee up front each time!

 

Although I have picked up more from trying stuff out and a few google searches, I have been trying to teach myself this for a while and it's only since I have been doing the course that I have really advanced? I think its because when I was doing it on my own I was always concerned that I was missing stuff out but now I feel I'm covering all the bases by doing the course for the structure and intrduction to things I havent heard about, and picking up the more intersting stuff on forums like this and some excelent disign blogs there are around.

 

trying to get a portfoli design together now so that I can have it live by the time I'm nearing the end of the course.

 

Actually I've just entred for the "student of the month" competiton for the first time in "Student World". have you done any of the live traing sessions? I've stopped doing them now cos they seem a bit rubbish.

 

Nice to know theres someone here at the same point (ish) as me in the course.

 

@Sott s: you made the right decision!

 

I wonder if there is a better course for this area though? or is just somthing you have to pickup yourself??

Im just wondering now if the JobCentre Plus will pay the rest of my course as I have been laid off from work

I know they do pay out on certain things under certain circumstances??

 

Anyway,

I struggled with the JavaScript TMA at the end a bit. Same as the Perl one im on now. I think it might have something to do with learning other subjects at the same time off the internet!!!

 

And, no i havent bothered with the live training and i did enter student of the month once. Didnt win tho

 

Good Luck.

 

Anymore info you may need or if u wanna chat about the course PM me anytime.

Will do

Is there some sort of final exam right at the end of this course do you know??

I'm currently revising for the CIW Foundations exam got it on 24th May. Although was a tad miffed at discovering I had to pay for the exam and 4 others at £90 a piece!! to get the Website Design Manager. Personally I'd happier with the CIW professional certificate. But did wonder what I had spent £3000 on.

 

However I did have no idea about web design before so it has given me new skills which I need to improve with more practice. I could do with learning some php and server languages. As due to having xp home not pro couldn't really do the server labs.

 

I also had a bit of grief with the Javascript and Perl final tmas but got there in the end. As a result of the course I am delving more into learning Creative suite 4, Illustrator, photoshop etc. As I have mates who are graphic designers but ain't great at coding. So if I can get a decent portfolio together and design some decent sites or stuff for sites. Then who knows.

Hi tobo

 

I was looking at the CIW courses earlier this year too. The opinion of the courses on forums isn't good which put me off and having to pay for it myself meant it ended up as a no go.

 

I'm using lynda.com at the moment which seems to be quite good although I don't know if it will cover all the same things.

I'm reviving this thread to get further feedback and views on the value of CIW by those who may have taken it.

 

A college course I am considering attending offers the certification free of charge, anyway,so there's no cost associated with it but I wonder if the organisation has updated the content, etc.