Maria Peagler, founder of Social Media Online Classes, has spent years teaching businesspeople to harness the power of technology. She started out when PCs were new, working for an Atlanta-based computer training company that helped Fortune 500 companies make their employees productive on PCs. In 2009, Peagler saw a need for small-business owners to learn how to harness the power of social media, so she began developing online courses to teach them. In her first month as an online course provider, Peagler made more money than she'd made the entire previous year in her second career as a book publisher.

"I'm a lifelong learner myself and would much rather take an online class from an established small-business owner than have to schlep to a university or take their courses on the semester schedule," Peagler says.

Sitting at your desk at your corporate job, have you ever wished you were back at school? If so, why not consider teaching?

Becoming a teacher as an encore career is more accessible than ever before. Most states now offer alternative teacher certification programs that assist experienced workers who want to become teachers without following the traditional route of obtaining four-year degrees, according to the National Center for Alternative Certification. Some corporations are making the transition easier, as well: IBM's Transition to Teaching program, for instance, offers former employees incentives to become teachers in an effort to address the shortage of qualified math and science teachers.

In 1968, Alan Moore played in the National Junior College Football Championship as a freshman kicker for Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Miss. The next year, he shipped out to Vietnam, ending his athletic and educational career. After completing his tour of duty, Moore became a construction worker and spent 37 years as a building superintendent in Mississippi, Florida, North Carolina and overseas.

Now 61, Moore has finally returned to college and the game of his youth. This season, he is the placekicker at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala. He's also the oldest college football player on record, according to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

Congratulations. You're sending a child to college for the first time this fall. After a year or more of researching admissions policies, applications timetables and financial aid packages, you may think you know everything there is to know about being the parent of a college freshman.

But you might not.

If you're considering teaching overseas as a way to see the world and enjoy an encore career, look east to China.

Private schools there are on a hiring tear because many Chinese parents want their children to learn English to thrive in a global economy. China is becoming the fastest-growing private English education system in the world, according to a survey by Disney English, a Magic Kingdom subsidiary that runs 22 Chinese academies that teach English to preschoolers. Another recent study says that China's private education market is projected to grow 45 percent between 2009 and 2012.

New to smartphones? There's a class for that.

If you live in the small towns of Rockport or Camden in Maine, you can take a one-hour BlackBerry workshop through the local adult education center. The cost: $5.

Residents of Collier County, Fla., can sign up for a six-week, $69 adult ed class through the local school district to learn how to use their Droid smartphones. The class covers basics such as e-mail, texting, watching TV shows and more sophisticated operations, including shooting and publishing high-definition videos.

Forget baby boomers going back to class--they are the class at American University in Washington, D.C., this fall.

Scroll through The Washington Post's list of odd college courses available in our nation's capitol (vampires, time travel, raising chickens at home) to No. 10, "Understanding Baby Boomers." Here's the catalog description: "This course journeys through the years of idealism, tumult, and conflict experienced by the baby boomers, allowing students to explore the social and cultural changes that took place during this period." Think it's available online?

Americans are aging--not exactly headline news. But what does it mean for the nation? U.S. News & World Report checks out a new study from Stanford University, which asks provocative questions about the future. The report, "New Realities for an Older America," delves into issues such as the fallout from ever-longer retirements as baby boomers out-live previous generations, the changing demographics of the U.S. population (expected to be a majority Hispanic in 30 years) and the ever-shrinking worker-to-retiree ratio. "Soon, our nation will have more old people than children," says Adele M. Hayutin, director of the Global Aging Program at Stanford's Center on Longevity. "Our economic prospects depend, in large measure, on how well our leaders--in government, business and communities across the nation--incorporate these tremendous population shifts into their policies and business plans."

One thing we do know: Baby boomers' high expectations are driving change in the area now nearest and dearest to their hearts--the aging process. Expect to see innovations in everything from housing and health care to financial services and leisure activities. The good news? Everyone benefits, according to CNBC.com.

More good news: The World Health Organization says the H1N1 pandemic is officially over. This season, just one flu shot should shield you from multiple strains.

Elderhostel, the educational travel organization geared toward people over 50, changed its name last year to Exploritas. It was a big move for the 35-year-old nonprofit, and while the aim was to make travel offerings more attractive to baby boomers, the switch was greeted with dismay by some long-time participants.

It was also greeted with a lawsuit by a commercial tour company for high school students named Explorica. Although the United States Patent and Trademark office had granted Elderhostel ownership of the name, federal Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled in favor of Explorica, saying that "potential customers are likely to be confused" by Elderhostel's use of the similar name.

I was in New Haven on Sunday to celebrate my niece Lesley's graduation from Yale, but I left contemplating what I and my fellow boomers could do in our second acts to help make the world a better place.

That's because the keynote speaker at Class Day was former President Bill Clinton, who made us think, in addition to making us laugh by threatening to put on a do-rag to honor the Yalie tradition of wearing funny hats to the event. ("How could anybody worry about the future of the world when it's in your hands?" he teased. "Anybody with this kind of judgment and head gear will have no problem solving all the other challenges.")