Virtual AGE (vAGE) is an asynchronous educational environment that utilizes learning objects focused on gerontology and a learning anytime/anywhere philosophy. This paper discusses the benefits of asynchronous instruction and the process of creating learning objects. Learning objects are "small, reusable chunks of instructional media" Wiley (2000). They are stand-alone instructional devices that are limited only by the creativity of the person designing them but are not to be construed with a way to present lecture notes. Using examples of learning objects from the vAGE library, the motivation behind constructing learning objects and the variety of purposes to which they can be put is presented. Creating a learning object is like developing a treasure map for your students to explore. (Contains 10 figures.)