I am very familiar with ISD and have both developed and facilitated Leader-led and Web-n-ars for many years. I want to expand my skill set to CBT and WBT. My question is, where to start. I know there is Captivate, Dreamweaver, Activate, Flash, HTML. There is so much out there. I would appreciate your recommendations on where a newbie is to start.

Just like classroom, there is design and then development. For a series of good books on the design part, visit my website below. I also offer a couple of online classes.

As to the tool, pick something that fits your work. If you are doing a lot of computer training then a tool like Captivate or Toolbook is good. If you just want very simple stuff, then something like Articulate might be the answer. One standout tool that is easy to use and has lots of power (allows you to grow with it) is Lectora by Trivantis.

Ruth Clark (clarktraining.com) has some really good books on e-Learning, use of graphics, etc. Bill Horton is another (horton.com) well recognized name in the field, and he has examples on his website. Michael Allen (www.alleninteractions.com) is another. So, looking at what they've done, books they've written, etc, is a good start.

As for tools, I think the two easiest and least expensive are Articulate and Captivate. These two can get you a really long way. Unless you need very sophisticated CBTs, you don't need Flash.

Start your research with the authors above, and join the eLearning Guild (www.elearningguild.com).

Tools will change, but principles of good training won't too much- I have retooled a dozen times in the past 5 years.

Elearning guild is very good with 360 reports on noting key trends for tools- so I do recommend going there to get a shortlist of top players.

As for "getting ahead"- really get plugged into understanding Web 2.0 technologies. The pace of development is dizzying (even more than traditional WBT tools), but if you have a solid basis of understanding, you can pick up newer tools based on foundational skills pretty quickly.

You won't be able to know it all, so I do recommend focusing on the "top tools" for marketability- if you run into a company with a competitor, chances are you can retool quickly (vendors tend to copy each other a bit- after Articulate really stormed in the industry, there were many "me too" products).

I just published an E-learning Structure and Format Guide.
http://eproficiency.com/webStore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3_10