What are the best ways to show you are willing to learn new programming technologies for a promotion?

As an R&D Engineer, I've always faced the challenge of integrating new programming languages into my daily work. One memorable example is when I had to learn C in STM32 for a project requiring signal processing, Verilog for FPGA, and Python for a MySQL report generator and server generation. Through this process, I discovered that the most effective way to learn these languages quickly is by actively using them in projects, even if I hadn't used them before. Practice and application are crucial for acquiring new skills. While I also gained knowledge from books offering exercises and useful tips, the hands-on experience proved most valuable.

there’s many courses from free course to expensive course and give a different benefits too. But learning from courses was a way to learn from different perspectives (because the teacher was different indeed). You need to show results from taking courses like make your perspective about the topic you learn.

The way I always approach it, is to watch some courses online (free or paid) enough to get grasp of whats going on and enough to understand. Once I'm beginning to understand some concept I move to some personal project to apply newly acquired knowledge as soon as possible. If I do it - great, moving on to the next topic and if I'm not, I try to find solution on my own and as last resort rewatch course/chapter. By applying practical knowledge, the things I learn "stick" better

Go beyond online courses! Set specific goals, diversify your learning with challenges and communities, build projects, share your progress through coding competitions and tutorials, network with mentors, and document your journey. Show, don't just tell, your dedication through clean code, public repositories, and achievements. This multifaceted approach proves your programming passion and paves the way for a stellar coding career

Building projects is very important if you want to be considered for promotion. Building projects shows that you are intentional about your growth as a professional and as a person. Additionally, building projects helps solidify the knowledge you obtained from courses and tutorials.

In my case my organization provide certification and courses to their employees so if your organization also provide reimbursement or subscription to any learning platform so avail that and try to complete the courses and certification from that platform because doing this you don't need to externally showcase your certificates to your boss because if you do that courses your employer will automatically get to know that you did any course and you have a edge over others.

To add to this, I have personally taken so many courses just to keep myself abreast with new technologies and emerging trends, while doing this, I've got a lot of mentors to share my progress with and seek advice on what to do and how to achieve it and with that I position my learning towards growth.