I have been working as an embedded software engineer on mostly 8 bit micro-controller firmware and desktop/mobile applications development for the past five years.

My work on a WinCE project (in which I got introduced to .NET CF) was short lived. I did use core APIs for interrupt processing, peripheral communication, etc...but again, not exactly a pure RTOS environment. In order to get together more solid experience for growing more in the embedded field, I want to work more with RTOSes.

Will buying an evaluation board with an RTOS and putting together a project at home be regarded as a good experience or will an online course be more useful? I am just not clear as to what will be regarded as good experience. Any suggestions or directions will greatly help me. I have a passion for the field but just a need a point in the right direction.