I thought I would post a note over here. I did a quick piece on some of the new courses in the Microsoft Virtual Academy that you can take at your own pace online. I've gone through some of the courses and actually was surprised by the quality so I'm encouraging people to take a look at the course list I've compiled.
http://myitforum.com/myitforumwp/2015/01/05/microsoft-virtual-academy-then-and-now/