Resources

Life by Design NW is committed to keeping you informed about current topics and cutting edge trends for Learning with those 50+ in mind. The resources listed here represent useful books, tools and organizations, including trusted local contacts.

Lifelong Learning, Online

“Lifelong learning” is not just a phrase – it’s an approach to life. Learn a language. Master investing. Start a blog. Learning is a prescription for a longer, healthier life – and increasingly, it’s done online. Read more in this Time article “Lifelong Learners Going Back to Class Online.”

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Mid-Career Professional Sees Things Differently

Are you carrying around an image of retirement based on your parents' experience? After attending the first Life by Design NW course through PCC Community Education, Kathie Cole, mid-career professional at PGE, sees things differently.

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Elderhostel

Elderhostel is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing extraordinary learning and volunteer adventures for people 55 and over, all over the world.

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Portland Community College: Community Education Program

Portland Community College's Community Education Program offers non credit courses for fun or professional enhancement.

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UO Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

University of Oregon’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute has innovative and accessible learning opportunities for adults.

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Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Public Broadcasting offers educational and informative radio and television programming. There are also terrific volunteering opportunities!

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Memaerobics

Memaerobics helps keep your mind and memory sharp.

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Lifelong Learning, Online

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AARP Foundation Women's Scholarship Program

Open until March 31, 2010 for women over 40

If you're a woman, and you're over 40 (or will be by March 31), you might be eligible for a scholarship from AARP's Foundation.

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A New Look at Learning After 50

More than 75 million people, a quarter of the U.S. population, are between the ages of 50 and 75. Demographers call this life stage “neither young nor old”; HGSE Professor Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot calls it a new developmental period. In her new book, The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 years after 50, Lawrence-Lightfoot challenges assumptions about aging and offers fresh perspectives on the dynamic learning that can occur during this period of life.

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Learning is a Journey

Sir Ken Robinson discusses revolutionalizing learning, but not just for children. Watch this inspirational video from TED.

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Apply for Humanity in Perspective

HIP is a free college humanities course for adults who do not have a college degree and who face financial barriers to continuing their education. Students read and discuss everything from Greek tragedies and philosophy to modern poetry and plays, experiencing new ideas and new ways of seeing themselves and the world. The course is taught by college faculty and meets twice a week in the evenings. Apply for the class by Thursday, July 15.

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