By Jonathan Hoyt (NY FP '90), past president, CNAA, and current board member.

What is OnlineLearning.net?
We are the largest provider of online continuing education. We offer six- to eight-week online courses for adult learners. Our classes are designed to maximize interactivity and convenience. Students must log on four times a week to complete assignments and interact with classmates and their instructor. So far, we've taught about 13,000 learners. About half of them are teachers who are working to meet challenging state new professional growth requirements.

Taking a course this way still sounds pretty strange. What have you learned so far about how online learning compares to a classroom?
Today, it's still new and mysterious. But in 2 to 3 years, online courses will be a credible, legitimate alternative to classroom courses. Here's what we've learned: Professionals are seeking convenient alternatives to the traditional "12-15 week course that meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm." According to a recent survey, 85% of the respondents say online courses are better or equal to their other learning experiences. This new convenient format increases the number of people in continuing education. While it doesn't replace traditional learning, online courses are going to make learning possible for people who can't get to university classrooms easily: busy professionals, elderly and disabled people, those living in rural areas. Most of our students are women right now.

What really stuck with you from your year as a Coro Fellow?
The logic study: it teaches you to parachute into a new world, see it as new, and understand it. I repeat the logic study process all the time. It's critical, because everything is changing. If you don't pay attention and ask questions, you are sunk. My work and my life have become a series of group logic studies. You have to reinvent your perspective constantly. And it's collaborative: even the 'Lone Ranger' didn't do it alone.

Despite running a startup, you have maintained significant commitments to community groups. How do you keep it all in balance?
I do it because it's a necessity for me. I have to have a diverse life to be effective. The time I spend on the Community Development Bank of Los Angeles, with Coro [John serves on the Coro Southern California's Board of Directors], and on LEAP [Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics] gives me energy and ideas that I can use in my work. The challenges faced by the Community Development Bank, for example, are so different from the ones I am facing that it helps me look at the world in a new way. Interestingly, there are at least two other Coro Fellows involved in all of my activities, including at OnlineLearning.net [Vi To, (LA FP '95) and Sanjeeb Das (LA FP '99)].

As a manager and a leader, how do you address learning and development?
It's not about learning once. It's continuous education. Your job has to be a seminar; if it's not a seminar, on a daily basis, it's not worthwhile. I tell my staff members ; "Let's set some goals for the next six months for what you want to learn" Time passes, and it's easy to lose sight of that. The pressures of work are so intense that people get forced away from those experiences. But at the same time, those are the experiences I want more of.

Clearly, learning is the common obsession running through your career. What's your recommendation on a learning-related site on the web that Coro alumni should try out?
Take a look at a site called BrandYou.com. It's based on some of Tom Peters' ideas, and it's bound to make you think about your job in a new light. I'm the CEO, so I have to think about the that my organization's brand. But we all need to think about our own, individual brands as professionals. We have to be independent and stand for something at work and in our lives. That's increasingly critical. And it means being able to learn and adapt.