Whether you are a beginner or an experienced professional, the first thing you have to do is get the needed skills in this field. Studying Web sites and reading books, such as this, are a good first step. This may be adequate for some of you who are good at learning on your own. But for many people who are learning a new skill, formal study can significantly accelerate the learning process.

College Degree

If you have the resources and the time, there are certainly excellent degree programs at universities and colleges around the country. Check out the computer department or communication department of an institution near you and chances are they will have offerings in multimedia or the Web. Two of the top schools in this field include:

• MIT Media Lab
• San Francisco State University

Certificate Programs

If you already have a college degree, a good alternative to a degree program is a certificate program. Certificate programs are packages of courses in a certain subject areas. These certificates are usually offered by the continuing education departments of colleges and universities. A certificate program may only be a half dozen courses and could be completed by taking classes part-time in a year or two. An added plus of continuing education courses is that many of the people teaching these courses are working professionals who can provide you with contacts in the industry. These schools are examples of good certificate programs:

• The University of Massachusetts at Lowell
• San Francisco State University

CyberEd

If you are busy with family and work, or you simply do not live near a college or university, consider online education. A number of colleges and private companies offer courses on multimedia and the Internet via the Web. As long as you have a Web connection, you can take these course sitting in front of your computer at home. There are many sites that offer online education. A few examples are:

• The University of Massachusetts at Lowell
• San Francisco State University
• The HTML Writers Guild