I believe that all students should learn the basics of web languages and design. If working through the basics of HTML and CSS has taught me anything, it is that the power for independent creations is possible in a sea of corporate-controlled platforms. I think that if we as students neglect to actually understanding what goes into how web pages are structured and published we position ourselves as strictly consumers and hand over a lot of our agency in a space that was originally made to grant agency to all users. I think of this quote, which talks about the origins of the internet
“It took companies giving up their patent rights, it took individuals giving up their time and energy, it took bright people giving up their ideas for the sake of a common idea.”
Julian Lucas, “Tim Berners-Lee Invented the World Wide Web. Now He Wants to Save It,” Annals of Technology, The New Yorker, September 29, 2025.
The internet was intended to be open access, with simple and shared infrastructure. I believe it is essential that we maintain this goal in mind when teaching our students.
Most of my personal coding experience has been oriented towards languages like Python and R for statistical analysis and data visualization. But even the small tutorials in HTML and CSS have improved my overall understanding of web development.
<html>
<head>
<title>Welcome to my coding sample</title>
<style>
body {
color: blue;
}
</style>
</head>
<p> This is an example of what I can do so far. I am becoming <strike>decent</strike> serviceable with HTML and CSS and a more active participant on the web.
</p>
</html>
These are my first steps into independent web page design. I believe that all students should be able to understand and apply what they learn so that we can hold onto our ability to create on the internet.