Welcome to New Web Design & Development Instructor

ASP, HTML/CSS, Java and jQuery – learn all of this and more from Chandeka Ork, our newest Web Design & Development instructor. She joins John Pettibone in educating future website experts in our professional certificate program.

“This is my first time instructing a course, but I have been excited to teach web design and development,” she said. “Most of my design and development skills have been self-taught, so enabling my students to learn from me and learn on their own is important to me and I would hope be important to my students.”

Chandeka not only educates continuing education students – she serves the entire campus as the assistant director of Learning Technologies for KSU.  She said, “I enjoy working with various units within KSU, in addition to my colleagues, on technology-related strategies and/or issues. I love the learning opportunities this institution has to offer as I am gaining my experience within the workforce.”

Her educational background is a reflection of her current career path. As a student at Virginia Tech, she majored in art and minored in computer science.

“I’ve always been into my visual and artistic side, yet I enjoy working with computers and technology. What better mix than aesthetic and technology than Web Design and Development?” Chandeka said. “I can build websites and applications that are user-friendly, yet nice to look at and engage in.”

Her skills and certifications include CompTIA Security+, Adobe Creative Suite, Google Analytics, Graphic Design, ASPRunner, Dreamweaver and knowledge of Microsoft Office programs such as Office, Sharepoint, SQL Server and Visual Studio. Her knowledge of programming is also vast: ASP, ASP.NET, HTML/CSS, Java, JavaScript, jQuery, PL/SQL, PHP, SQL, T-SQL, VB.NET, VBScript, Windows Powershell, .NET Framework, Bootstrap Framework.

As the course name dictates, students will learn web design and web development skills. Chandeka said both are blended out of a necessity for an overall and complete website.

“For me, design focuses on elements that appeal to the end-user visually from an artistic point of view. Development focuses on the ease of functionality that allows the end-user to come back feeling comfortable with using the site,” she said. “They’ve learned what they need to accomplish and it leaves a lasting memory on them.”

Chandeka said the advantage of being knowledgeable in both areas is being able to understand not only what the user would like to see but how they need to interact with it. Her goal for her students is to be dedicated to learning both. She said, “It may take a while to develop a web design and development skill set, but one needs to be dedicated to learn how websites and applications work for you and your client(s).”

For those considering this career field, Chandeka recommends entry-level web designers/developers should possess these three skills: Coding experience, visual aesthetics and interpersonal skills. She also recommends consistent work on one’s portfolio and a steadfast determination.

Chandeka said, “Not being hired for a particular job shouldn’t stop you from improving and even learning more skills on top of what you may already know.”