Having only recently graduated, I certainly know what the curriculum is like in a design program now-a-days: "hands-on" typographical experiments, letter-pressed posters for a cause, highly conceptual books and editorial designs that may end up at a local gallery — all of that following the underlying design school mantra "get off the freaking computer."

Unfortunately, that mantra doesn't entirely prepare students for what it's like after graduation. There are all too many designers that graduate with meticulous print skills but underdeveloped or non-existent interactive skills, only to find the market flooded with mostly interactive jobs.

Why is there such an aversion to interactive design in design programs despite the advent of the web? The web, although still relatively new, is simply just another medium to design for, much like books, posters, packaging, etc. Designers must adapt to their clients' needs that change with the times, and the time right now is for web and mobile design.

Because of that, instead of stigmatizing the students' use of the computer, find ways to harmonize the digital and the physical to create a refreshing approach to interactive design. Take the passion that students have for experimentation and conceptualization with print and show them how to translate that to the web to make the web a more beautiful place.

Scared of markup? Have the students work with other students that are becoming developers so they can learn to collaborate and see their vision come to fruition. Alternatively, a design student that knows markup will go a long way too!

Design programs that embrace interactive design as opposed to treating it so unfamiliarly will successfully teach its graduates the meaning to adapt as a designer as well as finally getting them that job!