I did sign up at Webjunction but found it hard to navigate - my browser kept crashing on that particular site. The "people skills" course interested me, but not for myself (I have already accepted that when it comes to people, I really love cats). Rather, I thought such courses might help my son, who has some issues with this.
The "life long learning" concepts, while great in some aspects, remind me a bit of being stuck on a cruise ship in bad weather with the cruise director trying to force you to attend the lecture given by the Shipboard "Expert" or play shuffleboard. Maybe it's just that at this point in my life, I have some very intense interests that are never given enough time as it is, and the idea of adding additional beads to an already crowded necklace is just not appealing.
As Freud pointed out, we all have finite time and energy and choices have to be made. In my current situation, there is limited appeal to the internet learning courses unless they are very specifically geared towards the causes and interests I've already chosen. That's not hostility on my part towards learning new things - certainly there are many new things I'd love to learn - but a recognition that in attempting to do "one more thing", current commitments would get even more neglected. The internet courses can be extremely good tools for introductions to topics, for providing basic information, and for experts seeking to enrich their already expert knowledge base. But for my most fervant interests, online courses are of limited use right now because they involve community education on the need for health care reform, for example, and that means face to face meetings and getting out amongst the other humans. I do think there is a risk that more reliance on the internet for education tools might mean there is less motivation for libraries and schools to hold "in person" classes, which are invaluable for creating real community.
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