When you think about autumn, what comes to mind? Cooler weather . . . the leaves changing . . . and, probably, back-to-school time. Did you know that even though you’re no longer a kid, you can still go back to school? Thanks to the amazing World Wide Web, you can go back to school anytime!

Is there a topic you’ve always been interested in learning more about? Or a skill you’ve always wanted to learn or perfect? Or have you thought about earning an advanced degree but were never in the right place? If your answer is “yes” to any of the above, you can probably find a way to do it over the Internet. The Internet offers a multitude of opportunities to learn more about almost any topic, whether you want to spend 15 minutes or several months learning.

Let’s say I have always liked photography (which I do), and would like to learn how to take better pictures. I can go to an Internet search engine like Yahoo or Excite and type in “photography online course”. I will then get a variety of different sites that I could visit to take online courses in photography. These courses range from short, free courses to more complex, for-fee courses (usually with a tutor or instructor). Some examples include:

• http://www.shortcourses.com: Short Courses offers many free short courses, one of which is a 9-lesson course on using your digital camera.
• http://www.agfanet.com/en/cafe/photocourse: Agfa also offers a variety of free courses, one of which is a 36-lesson Classical Photo Course that includes subjects like portrait, landscape, and travel photography.
• http://www.schoolofphotography.com: this online photography school offers courses that are tutor-assisted. Costs range from $199.95 for comprehensive courses like Basic Photography and Digital Photography to $49.95 for more targeted advanced courses like Black and White Photography.

Now let’s say I am interested in taking some courses toward an advanced degree, perhaps an MBA. There are a large number of American and international universities that offer the opportunity to earn an advanced degree online. There are two different sites that I found that allow you to search for online courses by course subject, institution name, and/or country. These sites are:

• http://www.dlcoursefinder.com: The International Distance Learning Course Finder is a directory of over 55,000 online courses and programs offered by universities, colleges and companies from 130 countries. Some of the featured U.S. universities include the University of Wisconsin, DePaul University in Illinois, and an online-only university based in Colorado called Jones International University.
• http://www.worldwidelearn.com: World Wide Learn is also a directory of hundreds of online courses, accredited degree programs, certificates, professional continuing education, and learning resources in 106 subject areas offered by educational institutions, companies, and individuals from all over the world. Some of the featured U.S. universities include the University of Florida, Boston University, and the University of Texas.

So whether you have a spare hour or want to take on a long-term learning commitment, you can probably find an online course in a subject that interests you. So log on to the Internet, do some searching, and join the crowds going back to school!

This article was originally written by Kirsten for the October 2002 issue of Currents.