There have been a few articles recently about how tertiary education institutions are finding it difficult to keep their curriculum up to date with the quick progression of the web design industry.

The article “Elevate Web Design at the University Level“, by Leslie Jensen-Inman, presents some solid advice for web professionals who would like to see the next generation graduate trained with the necessary skills and experience to make the leap to the “real world”.

Of particular note are the efforts being made by The Web Standards Project (WaSP) and Opera (makers of the Opera browser) to produce material to support the education of future web professionals.

Opera have compiled a Web Standards Curriculum which is available for free and for education faculties to incorporate into their curriculum, thus promoting good development practices among graduates.

Although I’ve been working with the web for a while, I’m personally working through the modules in the Opera curriculum. Whether its HTML, CSS or Information Architecture, I’m sure there is something in there for everyone to learn from. Thanks Opera!