To my personal observations many libs (e.g., openVG) use make, and IIRC I also sometimes have seen installation guides which have been using makefile.
I can't remember if I have ever seen cmake, but I'm quite sure that make and makefile have been used more often than cmake AFAIK.
Anyway, IMO it's not bad to be taught how either one would work.
But I personally also am using just Geany with all my propietary (more or less static) settings for compile and build, and I also would recommend that to every beginner to C.
As the author of the MagPi C tutorial also already shows the Geany screenshots (used as an editor), it's just a small step to explain how to set the Geany compile/build preferences, and then how to use it as a both handsome and complete and powerful IDE.