Personally, I would do a couple of things:
1. Show him how to use perldoc
2. Show him an example program (something simple)
3. Show him search.cpan.org
4. Give him the task. At the end of the day, return and see how much (if any) process was made.

Good luck (quick comments as I run off to do a build... :))

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Zak
"There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism" ~ Theodore Roosevelt (1915)