Dream-ing, Excel-ing and Flash-ing

I've spent the last month working with Dreamweaver, Word, Excel, Flash, and a multitude of websites, and my brains are feeling a bit scrambled.

How am I going to implement these in my classroom? I realize they are just tools, that the learning that goes on will not be totally dependent on the tools, but what are the odds that I'm going to create a site in Dreamweaver for my students? We don't have this powerful application available on our budget, and aren't likely to have it anytime soon. I don't have a personal host where I can upload my creations. Flash is nice, but again...will I use it? Even in the "real" world, by the time I finish this degree these software applications will be outmoded.

So what's the point? I struggling to discover why we needed to purchase specific software: yes, Adobe and Microsoft are industry standards but how is my ability to teach/design/guide going to be augmented by three chapters on Dreamweaver?

Is it the process of learning how to manipulate the tools that is important? The "learning to learn?" Perhaps that's it. I know that in my undergrad days, we were told that companies liked Liberal Arts majors because our ability to learn had been proven in acquiring the degree. The employer would be able to train us, knowing that we already knew how to learn.

Short moment of doubt. It will all be made clear as I move on through the semester, I'm sure.