Universities focusing on teaching practical technical skills is a slippery slope. I recently came across a Reddit thread where people were complaining that their computer science profs weren't teaching the most up to date programming language! They're saying CS, one of the more practical-oriented degrees are impractical. This is why we teach fundamentals that are core to understanding rather than whatever is the latest fad.
@drmambobob Agree, although I find that too often people don't tell students why they're teaching A and not B. I find that when students are made aware of the rationale for the what's in a course, and of its large idea, then they do understand those choices. Having clear and meaningful learning outcomes for each course and each teaching session is also very helpful. Also, you can teach students how those fundamental concepts form the basis of whatever fancy technology is trending at the moment.
