Barnes & Noble.com will start offering free online classes this summer on its Web site, allowing people to learn about everything from astronomy to dieting correctly. How long will it be until a real estate author is showing home buyers how to shop for a home - with or without an agent?

The New York-based retailer said that it was building Barnes & Noble University with NotHarvard.com, which specializes in creating Web classrooms.

Just like the crowds that author lectures bring into its traditional stores,Barnes & Noble.com is betting that its freeWeb-based courses will woo people to its site and encourage them to buy its books and other products.

NotHarvard.com is known for "eduCommerce," a term the company coined to reflect how it uses free online education as a tool to boost sales and marketing on its clients' sites.

Analysts congratulated Barnes & Noble.com for being one of the first online retailers to jump into "distance-learning," which many believe will become increasingly popular online as more companies realize how easily the Internet can be turned into an interactive classroom. There will be about 30 classes to start, but that is expected to quickly expand. The classes will range from one-day seminars to courses that last up to 12 weeks. Most of the courses do not require students to show up for any particular day or time.

Most classes will be held through online chat and email, since many people use computers that aren't powerful enough to handle videos. Many of the courses will be based on books in the field and the retailer said it will invite authors of those books to become instructors.

Transforming Tomorrow

Edward de Bono defines creativity: "Creativity involves breaking out of established patters in order to look at things in a different way." He didn't say a wrong way!

Each of us is different. We all have different ideals,viewpoints, perspectives and ideas. Yet we are often afraid of being perceived as non traditional or unusual by others in our groups. We worry about not being part of the crowd. There seems to be safety in numbers. For a world of people all wanting to be seen as unique, we are, oddly, submissive conformists!

Next time, rather than blindly agreeing to a suggested plan that isn’t very different than the plan you are now using, challenge the group’s thinking. And don’t make anyone feel like they come from another planet when they suggest a visionary idea. It might just be the one idea that jumpstarts the group into some pretty breakthrough thinking.