Additionally, AiO’s Center for Professional Development recently launched two web design certificate programs in partnership with Adobe Systems, Inc: "Introduction to Web Design" and "Web Site Development." The two programs utilize Adobe web authoring tools that are used for Internet website content creation and development. The first 100 students enrolled in these certificate programs are receiving a free education version of Adobe’s Web Collection, a powerful software package that sells for a $999 retail value.

AiO President Ken Sutton explains that all AiO online courses are designed based on what has historically worked well in the traditional classroom. "When we create a course, we are starting with a course that has been delivered on-ground," he says.

To help support the marketing of these programs, as well as to provide highly relevant information, AiO has produced a very creative CD-ROM that introduces prospective students to online learning. In particular, one feature of the CD-ROM titled "The Art Institute Online Experience" takes the viewer through a week in the life of an online student, showing, with animated screen shots and voice over, all the features of a typical online class. Interspersed throughout are testimonials from AiO students and course facilitators.

One segment shows how a student in a drawing course might use a digital drawing tool and submit his or her drawing assignment as an attachment inside a threaded discussion board. Another segment shows how varied technologies are used throughout the AiO programs, including demonstrations of streaming audio lectures with interactive visuals, such as user-controlled animated graphics.

"One of the questions we always get is how do we do life drawings," (for the online version of the Institute’s Life Drawing classes) says Sutton. Easy - it’s done with a CD-ROM called "Virtual Poser," that utilizes Quick Time "VR" capabilities, which is an enhanced Quick Time function that adds the ability to display and rotate objects in three dimensions.

For special classes related to art, AiO utilizes the Art Image Museum Consortium (AAIMCO), which is an online library of more than 60,000 works of art digitized.