Marqie,
I took Data Processing in College. I had separate courses in different things and because computers have changed, the syllabus has changed and it looks totally different today than when I went to school.
Microcontrollers is a little harder than just learning programming. It incorporates mechanics and electronics along with programming. You are juggling more than one thing at a time while learning.
I think the Arduino might be easier to learn than other micro controllers because there are a lot of tutorials and a lot of people are just doing it. There is a lot of help here.
I think the Arduino is a step. The Arduino uses a bootloader which makes Microcontrollers more easier to use than some of the other stuff out there. I've also seen people graduate from the Arduino to more complex Microcontrollers.
"Are the skills transferable to some of the more wide-spread techniques used in modern technology?"
I learned Basic at home. I then learned Basic in High School. I learned Basic again in college. I took some Assembly and I took Pascal, etc. When you take more than one computer language, you learn how to do the same thing differently and you become more fluent. Programming takes practice and the more you do it the more you get better at it. I can say that you have to practice because you can know how to do things but then there are people who are a little more sophisticated at doing the same thing.
I've been in college where it was a bad environment and the teachers tell you to do something instead of how to do it. There were a lot of students asking for help because they had no idea what to do. I think the Arduino is basic and if you can make it here then you can probably make it anywhere. I have a friend who recommended that I learn the Arduino first because it is supposed to be one of the easiest.
The worst way to learn is from some of these Engineers who teach at a different level. They would take what you need to learn out of sequential order and put it into alphabetical order because their job is to write and to make large manuals. Someone who has experience can understand it but it doesn't aid people starting out which makes their job more important because they are again needed.
You basically want to start out by blinking an LED (Light Emitting Diode) and then you will have an understanding.
Chuck