Critique This!
I was invited as a guest speaker at school yesterday during a CS101 class. The teacher’s purpose was to have her students fledgling web designs critiqued by an experienced business professional.
Once my credentials had been established by reading parts of my resume, it was time for the Gates of Hell
to open 
(The Wench would have been proud)
To give the students credit they actually had done what the teacher outlined for them. She had asked them to create their own "personal" webpages. Apparently she was soo frustrated that they had taken her soo literally she wanted me to come in and help them to understand. She also took the hit for not being a bit more explicit in her instructions and expectations to them.
Looking around the room at these eager (bored) young faces, my first question was "Are you proud of what you have displayed about yourselves and put out on the Internet for the world to see?" (their pages are on a university web server open to the public) Apparently they weren’t because there was a lot of looking own at their feet, lol Explaining to them the number of potential readers worldwide on the Internet didn’t seem to make them feel any more comfortable.
I began my little talk with telling them upfront that, with only a single exception, I as an employer wouldn’t even consider hiring any of them. So, if they were ever planning on trying to find a position with any company as web developers, maybe they should consider a change in career. The same applied if they had decided to become a Biologist, because the content on their pages more closely resembled dating sites. Although the teacher had instructed them to create personal sites, she also asked them to provide their goals and objectives. While "Making Big Bucks" is certainly a goal, it’s probably not something you want to be quite so verbal about in the future if you’re looking to be taken seriously. Further, (duh) nobody cares if you think you’re the biggest stud in Hawai`i.
"Posting something on the Internet is sort of like answering the door in your underwear… you just never know who may be watching." … how’s that for getting the attention of a bunch of 19 - 21 year old boys and girls?
I also addressed the Dubious Wisdom of plagiarizing and copyright infringement, since most had "borrowed" graphics and content from other web sites.
Having gotten their full attention by now, we proceeded to a direct critique of many of their "sites". Having by now gotten an idea of what they were looking for, most of them actually threw up their hands when asked what was wrong with the sites.
The kids actually did take my little discussion pretty well, with the single exception of a little asshole in the back who made it clear he was only taking this class for the credit. Um… when last seen he was slinking out of the room after I handed him his head for making such a stupid comment. "You may be only taking this class to get the credit, because you thought it was going to be easy, but the fact that you chose to include a picture of yourself sticking your tongue out probably means that Psychology degree you’re trying to get may not be such a good idea after all."
All in all, a good time was had… for some reason several of the students actually tracked me down after class to say how much they had enjoyed it. The teacher even sent a glowing email to the Asst. Dean (not even asking that I be removed from the school after being tarred and feathered) Damn… and here I thought I was an asshole.