Web development likely offers the path of least resistance for someone just starting out. As others have mentioned, have him/her pick one of these:
http://www.asp.net/
http://java.sun.com/
Learning the corresponding database technologies is a must. XML/XSLT should be learned. HTML and JavaScript are assumed.
http://www.rubyonrails.org will likely be the other choice down the road, but either of the two technologies above is the way to go right now.