This week I'm taking the 24 hours of continuing education classes that are required by the Arizona Department of Real Estate so that I can renew my real estate license at the end of this month. I waited until the last minute, I always do, so now I'm hustling to get it done. And I'm doing it online.
The online classes are really convenient because you can do them anytime you want, 24/7. You can start and stop them at your whim, take a lunch break, do an hour at 4 in the morning if you can't sleep, and pick it back-up at 9 that night.
And if you've got a lot of stamina you're allowed to do up to 9 hours in one day, that's three classes per day, so in three days you're done.
I don't have that kind of stamina, I'm doing one class a day.
It's very convenient. All you need is a computer with a high speed connection and a quiet place where you can concentrate.
The other choice is to go to the 'live' classes held at a real estate school or community college. For me that's usually not so convenient because you have to adhere to the schools schedule. The classes are on certain days at certain times.
You must arrive on time and be present for the entire 3 hours for each class, and there are 8 classes that must be taken. Plus, three hours of sitting in a classroon is a bit much for me, I start to drift after about 90 minutes. And if you arrive late, or have to leave early for a dentist appointment, you're out of luck, no credit for that class.
On the plus side, the live classes are often very entertaining as well as educational, with the added benefit of the wit and wisdom of a good instructor.
But if you're not interested in the material or you're sleepy, and you're capable of sleeping with your eyes open, the live classes are a cinch. You have to be there for the entire 3 hours, but that's about it. You don't have to answer any questions, take any tests, or do anything really. I've never tried this, but I think if they catch you sleeping on your desk, the instructor will wake you up.
On the other hand the online classes are a little dry- just the facts, no wit, no wisdom - but they actually require you to learn the material being presented because there are tests, and you have to pass them in order to complete the class.
Each class runs about 3 hours and is divided into 6 or 8 sections or lessons. At the end of each lesson there's a quiz. You must pass the quiz to move on to the next lesson, and passing the quiz generally requires you to answer 100% of the questions correctly. If you don't you are forced to review that lesson and take the quiz again.
Once you've successfully completed all the lessons and quizzes there's a final test comprising all the material for that class. Once again you must pass that test in order to get credit for the class. A novel idea.
And while you don't need to be a rocket scientist to get thru this stuff, you do need to pay attention and concentrate on understanding the material and remembering a bunch of facts and figures.I have to pay attention and concentrate, and even doing that I've had to repeat a couple of lessons.
Initially I signed up for the online classes strictly because of the convenience. But I've found that re-learning some things that I'd forgotten and getting a general refresher on all this real estate material is a very good thing. I like it, it's helpful.
Besides, I can't sleep with my eyes open.
