Don't listen to those Apple fan-boys and their precious frameworks. PHP is very suitable for students, quite similar to and compatible with the teaching transition to C++. I am currently enrolled in an Introduction to C++ Programming class. I'm acing the class. Most of the students have no idea what they are copy and pasting and ask many stupid questions on our discussion forum. I think the biggest hurdle you're going to face is keeping the students interest at this level. They don't care to understand the statements if it doesn't connect to their cell phone or MySpace. There isn't really a good way around that. My instructor sets minimal expectations for lab assignments and keeps the "rewards" coming in the form of 1000-point grade scale. I think his online discussion forum is probably his best asset in assisting the students. He gives great lectures, but everyone just does the labs and goofs those off.