Do We Still Need To Teach HTML

Brian Scarbeau asks "Should html be taught in a web design course?" The comments at his blog are all a resounding "yes" which surprises me. While I do agree that there is a lot of value in learning the underlying HTML in a first course I expected others to disagree. Am I really that main stream?

I expected people to say that the focus would be on design or perhaps on concepts independent of HTML. Or perhaps people would reject the use of HTML in an editor with a preference for tools that hide it all.

Just how important is knowing HTML these days? Look at how much one can do without it. Major mashups with Popfly. Personal site customization with Facebook, My Spaces and many easily skinable sites for people of all ages. Tools for creating websites that are drag and drop designers seem to be increasing in pervasiveness. Do students really need to know HTML?

Honestly I think they do because of the language being so foundational. But with so much possible without knowing raw HTML couldn't it really wait until a later course? Leave a comment with your opinion here. Or drop it over at Brian's blog - especially if you disagree about needing to teach HTML.