And there are many features of 2.7 series that make it more appealing to new users. OpenGL display is a great way to make Blender easier to understand.
I thank everyone for their input. I will stick with 2.7,etc. This would leave me with system specifications. I understand that one could animate the Opengl window instead of rendering with cycles. Used video cards could be a help when saving render times. I believe a class would probably render one frame at first, to learn how to make a high quality render, then learn to animate using key frames later.
What kind of age groups will you be training?
If this is about hardware, there is absolutely no reason you can’t keep using Blender Internal. It works as well now as it worked in 2.49. That said, Cycles is actually faster in any non-trivial scene if you sacrifice global illumination and just go with AO. Of course, students are likely to do an awful lot of very trivial scenes…
I wonder if college level is a good place to start. I want to keep it open, high schoolers are next on my list.
Would a rigid curriculum be good to prevent students from going out of bounds?
The main issue you will have with training is the varied interests of the students. I would say you could have a sort of basic level prerequisite course that covers Blender Basics.
When I have taught Blender to the artists in my studio, the have usually come from other applications so it is real fast to train them in Blender because they understand the basics of 3D. They usually pick up Blender within a few hours right away, and usually find it easier to use than other commercial apps they have been using. lol I always find that at odds with everything you hear about Blender by people who seem to be “in the know”. Just a side note. It is funny.
You will probably find people have varying degrees of understanding about 3D and the technology if they are new students. So a good deal of your training will be getting them to understand the various disciplines not necessarily limited to Blender.
So your best approach is going to be working with the students one on one. You will want to get from them their interests as well as their experience with other programs or 3D In general.
And tailor an individual program to each student that they can follow and go from where they are to where they need to be with the basics of 3D and with Blender and then branch them off based on their interests.
I think you’d have much better luck that way than one set program for all. It is what has worked best for me, and I have trained, about a dozen or so artists thus far in Blender.
It should be noted, I am equally fluent in Maya and a few other programs. And the reality is, you will run into a lot of people who have used other apps. So it is a plus to be able to relate back to these other programs. And much faster to train students when you understand the programs they have used up to this point. So if you can, DL a student version of Maya and learn it. It will be time well spent.
Hope you find this information useful.
Thanks, I find this info. useful. I have a long road ahead of me. Getting the hours in Blender again is a rough obstacle. Between work, home, school it means a lot of hrs. ahead. I am for sure this sounds familiar. 
I hope updated books are around. I may attempt to write my own. If that does not teach me anything about Blender I guess nothing will.
OMFG NO! “old” Blender is SO much harder to use and the GUI is completely unlike any other software!
It would be completely inappropriate in an academic setting and really wouldn’t help prepare your students for a modern workflow!
Please don’t subject your kids to the “bad old days”!
Right before I encountered this thread, I watched a bizarre episode of “Rick and Morty”.
For a minute there I convinced myself I was still watching that bizarre episode. 
Zany.
Rolling.
How do I change the title again?
Edit first post, change to advanced, change title.
Cheers, mib
Thanks.
Now 1001, because I’m saying that too!
Honestly, it is a waste of time to teach kids something that is not anymore supported. It’s almost like teaching them chemistry from 1600 while other kids are learning modern.
I also started with 2.49 or something like that, but I was so happy when 2.5 came out. I mean I was REALLY happy about it.
Cool. I need to fix my schedule to do all of this. My job is kicking my back side. I will adjust.
So, how is Blender Cloud? I want to join that.
Blender cloud is kind of great but still in early stages. There are lots of assets from the movies available and heaps of training materials. Best of all is the interaction with the Blender offices.
This thread sure has a lot of replies for a non-controversial subject (99.9% agree 2.76 > 2.49, including me ).
On topic, however, I think Blender (or any competent CG program) is extremely hard to learn. The only reason I was able to learn it even in its pre-2.5 years was because I really wanted to, whereas even college-age students will give up on Blender once they see the hurdles. As an aside, I gave up selling non-creatively-inclined friends and acquaintances on Blender long ago; they don’t have the motivation (or discipline sometimes) to weather the learning curve (but whether or not the crucible of rage-induced quitting is a “good” thing for a piece of software is another discussion entirely).
Agreeing with Richard Culver, I think I would just make sure your students, regardless of their age, are inspired by what they can do with 3D but at the same time understand how hard it is to get there (and for heaven’s sake, if any of them immediately propose to embark on a feature-length film project after they’ve animated their first gingerbread man, beat them over the head with a chair).
sniff I still haven’t animated a gingerbread man… sniff
i teach as well and would never to consider to teach that old version.
He already dropped the idea. Several posts ago. The thread is no longer about 2.49. It is just about teaching Blender mostly now.
Is it time to stop making comments about 2.49?
I think so.
Blender = good for first 3D program.