First off, that site is simply gorgeous. Seriously.
Secondly, I have a request to the makers of the site: Could you make this open-source? Or at least make the platform available for other people to create lessons on?
I think something like this would make computer science education amazingly simple to share around the world. Given some additional plug-ins, this platform could move beyond the simpler html/css/javascript coding, and straight into more intricate lessons on all sorts of programming languages. Throw in a social voting aspect, and the best lessons for each topic would be able to rise to the top of the heap. If it were open, then people would be able to translate the typed lessons into various languages so that everyone could learn the fundamentals of computing.
Like I said, the site is excellent as-is. It just seems to me that there is a huge amount of untapped potential here that needs to be taken advantage of.
I wish more people screencast like Notch. He spends most of his time coding, and very little talking to the camera.
Most people who code for the camera thinks it's the 'Me Show!' and act like a starlet.
He also codes from scratch, without practicing beforehand. (At least, not that exact problem.) This means you get to see his thought process and all his trial-and-error. When watching most tutorials, they've got it all planned out beforehand and it doesn't teach you to think, just to copy.
If you like this sort of thing, you might be interested in my "Let's Play TDD" series. 187+ episodes (!) developing a real-world Java application using test-driven development and evolutionary design, with audio commentary. http://jamesshore.com/Blog/Lets-Play
My experience with the screencast biases me, but I prefer the straightforward video recording approach to thecodeplayer's approach. It's a nifty hack, but a screencast is simpler and more flexible. An audio track is particularly important for this sort of thing, I think.
In general this is very cool. Some constructive criticism:
1) I was really expecting an actual programming language instead of "just" HTML/CSS.
2) When watching some of the CSS demos, the switch back and forth between the HTML tab and the CSS tab was pretty jarring. I'd like to be able to see both at all times.
3) It took more clicks than expected to get things started.
I'm a visual thinker and find it easier to grasp things where I can see the pattern unfolding. So I find the typed comments clearer than an audio overlay.
Played the CSS family tree "codecast" knowing very very little CSS. No idea you could do that with just CSS.
Great concept. Watching other people code is a great way to learn AND teach. Really would like to see this for Obj C / other languages. Python would be an easy one to do.
I guess I'll join in on the bandwagon as everyone else and ask, are you going to support languages other than HTML5?
Now, I noticed the site is very Pinteresty. I guess this is the start of a Pinterest design meme. I expect will see more Pinterest-looking sites in the future.
Do you think Pinterest will do anything to stop Pinterest-looking sites? Is there anything they can do? Or does having people copy the essence of their design in the end help their brand?
This looks really neat, as long as each lesson remains fairly small and self-contained (could be a bit unwieldy otherwise). It also appears to be using the page visibility API, so bonus points.
I'd like to know what's up with the typing speed, though. Surely nobody really types that slowly!
ruby_on_tails, who's apparently the author of the site, has been dead-banned, probably for suspected spam, even though I think that the mods/algorithms have had a heavy hand: he submited two links to his site in two months, and the second one was flagged, even though it was on topic.
Secondly, I have a request to the makers of the site: Could you make this open-source? Or at least make the platform available for other people to create lessons on?
I think something like this would make computer science education amazingly simple to share around the world. Given some additional plug-ins, this platform could move beyond the simpler html/css/javascript coding, and straight into more intricate lessons on all sorts of programming languages. Throw in a social voting aspect, and the best lessons for each topic would be able to rise to the top of the heap. If it were open, then people would be able to translate the typed lessons into various languages so that everyone could learn the fundamentals of computing.
Like I said, the site is excellent as-is. It just seems to me that there is a huge amount of untapped potential here that needs to be taken advantage of.