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Drupal Classes at a Crossroad
Monday, November 10, 2008 - 4:29pm - Ju young Vanderwater
As some of you might already know we have been holding classes in our office to teach our new guys the ins and outs of Drupal. After a short time we had reached a crossroad of sorts though - and a decision needed to be made.
In the beginning, it was our plan to spend quite of bit of time on one topic, going in depth... For example, we had allotted 3-4 weeks on Views, but after a week of Views, we decided that wasn't realistic for a couple of reasons. One, we weren't learning enough of other things to help out with lots of projects. Two, it was like cramming information about heart surgery into someone's head who had just started learning Biology. Without some basic exposure to other aspects of Drupal, it's difficult to grasp the really deep stuff.
So we chose a slightly different path, I think. I'll call it the "Get the Job Done" path... Or maybe the "Drupal High School" path. Being in high school, we all had to learn several subjects (even if we didn't like them) enough to pass the tests and have a general knowledge of them. I guess it's a good way of producing well-rounded people. Myself, I thought I didn't know anything about Drupal, then as I sat through the class with a guy who started from scratch, I realized how much basic knowledge I had. Without that foundation, it's hard to learn in depth.
Instead of multiple weeks of Views, we now have decided to teach more general and basic things. Last week we went through creating galleries (gallery of nodes vs. node gallery). In the coming weeks we will be going through items we use on many websites, such as setting up a calendar, creating forums, node references, and possibly Ubercart (which is the product we use for our E-Commerce).
Growing isn't easy. But with flexibility and a willingness to learn, our new Drupal talents are starting to stretch and flourish. I would like to find some resources that I might add to the class - if any other Drupal shops out there have a standard list of modules that you implement on the websites you design and develop? I would love to know.
Broad overviews up front
Submitted by Sean (not verified) on November 11, 2008 - 11:07am.
I'm down with what Josh said. It's really helpful to hit a broad overview of Drupal as the first learning stage. I've been running entry level classes that stuff the broadest of principles into just 8 hours, and from there students understand how all the little pieces of Drupal fit together and are ready to specialize or concentrate in the areas of their interest.
More like tech school
Submitted by Michelle (not verified) on November 11, 2008 - 1:42pm.
I don't think the HS analogy is really on. Unless you're also making them learn about Wordpress and Joomla. HS you get a bit of everything whether it's something you really need to know or not.
It sounds more like a tech school where you get hands on practical knowledge of the subject that you are focused on. I always found that to be a better way of learning. Reading about Drupal doesn't do much but give me an idea of what's possible. It's in actually creating sites that the real knowledge comes.
Michelle
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Practical Know-How
It's always good to orient around practical Know-how. Solving real-world problems is an excellent way to learn and stay motivated.
I like the "High School" metaphor, as fundamentals are really important. If people want to get into under-the-hood Drupal web development, they've got to have some foundation in XHTML, CSS, PHP and MYSQL. If they want to become Drupal configuration masters, it's absolutely essential to grok Nodes, Menus, Taxonomy, Books, Comments, Actions, Triggers and all the rest of core, and then really dive into the more complex contribs like Views, Panels and CCK.
Good luck continuing your training! If you have any great lessons to share, I'm working on re-energizing The Drupal Dojo as a go-to online training resource. Would love to get your input there.