I'm curious, what is your take and how does it differ from everyone else?
I'm not absolutely opposed to dumping all the unique features of what I've got so far on the interwebs, but not just yet.
The biggest feature that the company I was bidding for liked is a way of submitting programs and finding if they're correct or not (grading).
I've implemented a few thoughts from Salman Khan's book. The plans cover a much larger demographic and the site can be easily used for a lifetime rather than to just get a start.
But that's all I'll say for now. :p
Maybe start making a prototype (Balsamiq/Prototype of Paper rather than code based).
As to keep it hush-hush:
"An idea for a startup, however, is only a beginning. A lot of would-be startup founders think the key to the whole process is the initial idea, and from that point all you have to do is execute. Venture capitalists know better. If you go to VC firms with a brilliant idea that you'll tell them about if they sign a nondisclosure agreement, most will tell you to get lost. That shows how much a mere idea is worth. The market price is less than the inconvenience of signing an NDA."
http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html
Just start. Good luck!
1. I have extensive plans on paper to include visual design.
2. I have a little bit of code and I'm working project by project to get to the level required to build this site. (The whole reason for me building the other two from scratch.)
3. Again, hush-hush isn't the issue. But throwing everything out every time I ask a question? That's not good. I'm not pitching, I'm asking for general advice. (When I bid for a design company they had the full plans with no disclosure agreements and I did that knowing the people I was competing with were doing a similar style site. I don't believe in IP, but I do believe in common sense.)
I thank you for your response though.
Find your niche and own it. This means you have to clearly communicate how your service is the better learning-to-code-online choice than free resources like Codecademy and paid ones like Code School and Treehouse. Active and serious could be it. Find the niche that finds the alternatives too passive and frivolous and start monopolizing them.
Then make it.
Build something- a prototype or a sliver of your service that shows a snippet of the experience. Show the superior grading, or something- anything- so people enjoy their experience. Give them a magic moment or two. They'll notice. Even if it's just one aspect of one language. You don't need to release everything at once.
You asked "how I can find either people willing to help with this, where to find investors..." Sell it well! Make it sound appealing. Why not communicate the enticing elevator pitch to attract interested parties here on HN as well as on elance, GitHub, at your local hacker space, in irc? Most people don't want an essay, just the essence in a sentence, maybe two, at the appropriate moment.
You're always pitching. Give people a reason to want to buy whatever you're selling.
So you have some designs on paper, great! Show these designs to anyone, everyone & gauge their interest. Remember, what a user says is very different to what a user does. Just because they say they WOULD sign up for something, doesn't mean they WILL sign up for something. Friends, family (& professors) are likely to be biased out of love, widen your reach.
I wouldn't code anything until you have done the above. The PG quote is basically reaffirming that your idea is worthless right now. Millions of developers are out there with ideas. Thousands are even out there with an MVP. Get user feedback from day one & make sure you're idea is actually worth something (& remember that 90% of good ideas aren't).
In the same way that I asked someone to send an e-mail via my website instead of simply posting my e-mail, I've no interest in the passively curious. I'm not cautious in talking about the project, but I am cautious in blabbering off to anyone who doesn't care or just wants to look at something shiny.
This is something that comes up in conversation with friends often. The question here is where can I go to find help. Not how do I validate the idea. That's taken care of.
Whilst the Head First series definitely has a childish tone the content provides a solid foundation for the various subjects in the series.
Head First Design Patterns is hands down the most approachable book. It makes the GoF look like a Latin textbook.
I didn't understand programming concepts until I got out of the usual "type this in and the console does this!" nonsense and got into understanding how these things work in the context of real world work.