Have you always wanted to go away to school, but family obligations and finances would not permit you to? Would you like to continue your education, but you do not want to trade in your job and Bermuda's warm climate for debts and snow blizzards? Because of the Internet, distance learning online is nothing like the sterile and impersonal correspondence courses that rely on the mailman for delivery.

Imagine going online after your kids are in bed and logging in to your class web site. You click on a link to watch the professor's lecture from that day, then chat online with some other students about the lecture. As you do the required reading that night, you have a question, so you post it on the web site, and the next time you log in you can read the professor's answer.

The cyber classroom can be a very intellectually stimulating and personal place. Students often establish online friendships that outlast the particular class. Furthermore, people typically find that they are drawn into the subject matter of the class much more deeply than in a traditional course because of the discussions they get involved in online where they are judged for what they say and not on stereotypes such as their age.

A major misconception is that online education is only for `techies' i.e.

people who have a lot of experience with computers. It is true that you have to have some minimal computer skills, but you certainly do not need to know (or care) very much about computers. With modern software, participating in an online course shouldn't require much more technical know-how than what you need to operate any other piece of office equipment (e.g. a fax machine).

On the other hand, you need convenient access to a properly equipped computer system in order to participate regularly in an online class; this means having a computer at work and at home with fast Internet access, and fast means 56 kbps or faster.

The question of cheating always comes up with any form of online education since online activity is normally done in an unsupervised setting. To the extent that assessment involves individual assignments or projects, this is not likely to be a problem. Almost any form of assessment or evaluation is possible with online classes. You can do traditional quizzes or tests with multiple choice questions or problems to be solved; they can even be done with time limits. Tests can also be made unique for each person -- or they can be conducted in a supervised environment (like the local Sylvan learning centre) if necessary.

While educators debate the effectiveness of online courses, the simple fact is that more and more accredited, renowned universities are offering programmes to students via the Internet. In fact e-learning centres are one of the few dot coms to actually make money.

No one at this time can say whether online versus face-to-face classrooms are more effective. It is argued that face-to-face interaction with the professor is fundamental to the learning process and that without it students suffer. On the other hand, students in cyber classrooms gain more experience writing because their discussions take place online and those who are afraid to speak up in face-to-face discussions have found the freedom of voice.

But how do people out in the real business world feel about degrees earned by distance learning? In a word -- great, as long as the school is accredited in one of the publications listed below. In a major study by Sosdian & Sharp, 100 percent of HR and personnel officers at major companies said they would accept degrees from accredited cyber-schools. Many even said that they preferred online degrees, because it showed that the person was capable of self-directed work.

Beware! There are many phoney accrediting agencies. To be worth anything a school must be listed in one or more of the following publications that list recognised accreditation agencies and schools.

The International Handbook of Universities (a UNESCO publication), The Commonwealth Universities Yearbook The World Education Series, published by PIER The Countries Series, published by NOOSR in Australia.

There are two kinds of cyber schools. There are brick-and-mortar universities that offer distance learning degree programmes, and there are schools that do not have any brick-and-mortar classrooms where all the students are distance learners.

Again, it does not matter which type of school you choose as long as the school is accredited by a recognised accrediting agency (see the above list of publications that list recognised accreditation agencies).

The web site www.degree.net can help you find the best cyber school for you without getting ripped off.

What to Look for in a Cyber School After you find the a school that seems to offer the degree you are interested and you have made sure that school is accredited with a recognised accrediting agency, you need to ask the school's administrators the following questions before you send in your money for the first class fees.

How many students are currently enrolled? How many degrees have been awarded in the last year? Curiously, quite a few schools seem reluctant to reveal these numbers.

Sometimes it is because they are embarrassed about how large they are, as, for instance, in the case of one alternative school that at one time had more than 3,000 students and a faculty of five! Sometimes it is because they are embarrassed about how small they are, as is the case with one heavily advertised school that has impressive literature, extremely high tuition, and fewer than 50 students.

What is the size of the faculty? How many of these are full-time and how many are part-time or adjunct faculty? From which schools did the faculty earn their own degrees? There is nothing inherently wrong with staff members earning degrees from their own school, but when the number doing so is 25 percent or more, as is the case at some institutions, it starts sounding a little suspicious.

May I have the names and addresses of some recent graduates in my field of study, and/or in my geographical area? May I look at the work done by students? Inspection of Master's theses and doctoral dissertations can often give a good idea of the quality of work expected, and the calibre of the students. But you may either have to visit the school (not a bad idea) or offer to pay for making and sending copies.

Many people think that online classes will be easy -- easier than conventional classes. But almost all participants report that they find online classes are much more work -- and much more rewarding -- than traditional courses they have taken. Again, this has to do with the amount of thought about the subject matter that results from online discussions. Such classes also require the self-discipline to do the preparation required for online participation and activities -- homework is homework, whether online or offline!