My learning - what should I learn?

Following a conversation in my team of 'what would you do if it all went belly up next week' I had think about what skills I should be developing.  My employer is quite generous and encouraging about self-directed learning and would probably help.  But what to study?

Various colleagues and websites I've looked at suggest as an elearning professional I should know about

°    Flash
°    HTML
°    XML
°    CSS
°    Javascript
°    SQL
°    Databases in general
°    SCORM
°    .net
°    ASP .net
°    game development
°    PHP
etc etc

I looked up itjobswatch.co.uk which was interesting - it lists the skills wanted in e-learning job ads of different kinds. no1 for permanent staff is XML, with Flash as no2. No 1 for contracts is Flash.

What am I good enough at now?  CSS, Javascript, HTML, instructional design, commonsense usability, translation to plain English, basic graphic design, Fireworks, Dreamweaver; I have some experience of ASP/ VBscript but it's very routine and limited. And of course, from my music  I know about recording and editing audio. And I seem to have good interpersonal and communication skills, according to my boss.

What can I not do?  Flash, Actionscript, databases, SCORM (spent some time on it and it did my head in, nor was it at all remotely useful), LMSs (hate'em)

What puts me off learning Flash is that there seem to be so many young people learning it as part of graphic design/ media  courses, I think what's the point in an old codger knowing a little Flash? I'd have to dedicate a lot of time to be really good at it in an elearning context. Maybe I should. Also I tend to think Flash ups the demand for graphic design skills - there's nothing worse than bad-looking Flash.

With my interest in learning outside LMSes, and experience building websites, one of my more technical colleagues is urging me to learn VB.net and Sharepoint Server development, as it'll be the Next Big Thing. Sharepoint certainly seems to be taking off at my work. So there may be opportunities here. But there's a limit to the hours I can put into learning stuff especially if it might interfere with other stuff I'm learning (e.g. vbscript syntax and javascript syntax)

I guess my 'offer'  if I have one is the 'solo craftsman' or 'jack of all trades' idea; I like the idea of developing a solution yourself on one PC without involving project managers, media people etc etc. 

Clive Shepherd suggested:

If you’re going to boost up your skills to become more self-reliant, I’d go first for the creative areas, i.e. basics of Photoshop, Flash (without ActionScript), simple audio and video production and good old PowerPoint. The purely technical tasks, such as using XML, SCORM, ActionScript and the suchlike, really are only for a small band of dedicated techhies and, to be honest, hardly needed with modern tools where the developers have done all this for you.

At the risk of exposing my weaknesses on the job market for all to see, I thought I'd ask my esteemed visitors what they'd advise. I was never that bothered about a career anyway!

Comments

[Cathy Moore]

I'm with Clive on this. Rapid development tools and young Flash whizzes have made it easier for learning designers to focus on design & writing and not the technical details of production.

I think the main reason to learn a bit of Flash is to understand what it can and can't do, so you can write scripts that are easy for others to produce or recognise when a rapid development tool isn't doing everything it could. You could spend a few hours playing with Swish or just sit next to a Flash developer and ask lots of questions.

Elearning job descriptions seem to vary widely, with some requiring lots of tech knowledge. However, the people I hear from say they need people who can design & write clear & concise materials, which often requires only Word or HTML.

[Tony Karrer]

This is interesting and I'd recommend you add it to the mix of the discussion on the Learning Circuit's Blog (learningcircuits.blogspot.com) - September Question is highly related.

[Jim Sutton]

Interesting reading. Thanks.