When you hear the term one-man army, what comes to mind? When our newest HTML and JavaScript instructor, John Baker, studied under Peter Patchen at the University of Toledo, Patchen encouraged John to become a one-man army of web development. In other words, he should aspire to be a skilled developer, armed with code, design, and graphic capabilities. John worked to do just that and now wields all of the tools required to be a singular force of web development!
John’s undergraduate degree is in Cyberarts, a discipline that was the brainchild of Patchen. Under Professor Patchen’s tutelage, John learned the fundamentals of HTML, JavaScript, and Flash, while simultaneously training as a photo/video editor and 3D animator.
John describes Patchen’s vision this way: “In a world of webmills where every web site is machined as if it were on an assembly line, Cyberarts graduates were different. Their work felt like the product of one vision, not the fractured output of conflicting voices. It is fundamentally the difference between a factory made item, and the handmade work of a craftsman.”
You can get a better sense of John’s work, the work that confirmed for me that he is in fact, a bonafide one-man web development army, by checking out one of his websites. You’ll find digital art, film work, and elements of other sites he’s developed here: artofjohnbaker.com
Beyond his undergraduate degree in Cyberarts, John has a master’s degree in Web Site Development from the University of Denver, which will serve him well as an instructor for our Client-Side Web Programming Certificate. But what’s even more exciting from our perspective here at OST, John earned that master’s degree online! He completed a significant part of his education in an environment similar to that which we provide to our own students. He’s been on the same side of the online learning process as OST students, shared many of their experiences, and ultimately, he succeeded.
Before coming to OST, John was most recently an adjunct instructor for Stautzenberger College, where he taught subjects such as HTML, JavaScript, Photoshop, InDesign and Flash, retooled the Digital Media Administration Program, and was indispensable in setting up externships for Stautzenberger’s students.
As OST continues to grow, we’ll be tapping into John’s unique knowledge and experience to help determine how to serve students better and improve the learning process at OST. Please join us in welcoming John to our ever-expanding troop of expert instructors.