[lol768]

>Does it bother anyone else that the author was teaching something they weren't proficient in? Is this normal for colleges?

Yes, it concerns me - but it doesn't really surprise me (my own UG CS experiences have really disillusioned me with regard to how much of a priority teaching quality really is, particularly in research-intensive institutions). It doesn't sound like the author had much say in the situation "I also had to teach it", so unsure if the department is the root problem here.

But it's doing a disservice to students - particularly given in the US they'll be paying much, much more than the tuition fees here in the UK (which I think are excessive as it is). It's not good enough. If you're going to offer a class that's more practical, covering real web technologies, do it properly or don't offer it at all. We risk teaching poor practices otherwise and I've seen these lead to real security issues when students enter industry and want to put these skills to use.