When I was in university, we had to submit working algorithms in C, Java or whatever the prof chose, but we didn't learn the language in class. The prof would show snippets of code, but never discuss the language itself. Same for Word/Excel. There were books at the university library if needed.
My CS experience was the same. We saw snippets of code in class. But I enjoyed CS193 much more. Just being able to follow along, as they debug and step through it was a much more cohesive experience to me than "here's a bit of code, to learn more go read the book after class." It was difficult for me to learn that way.
