Perhaps you’re shopping around for the right class to enroll your teenage son or daughter in. Or maybe you just graduated high school and are hoping to reduce your insurance costs a bit. Or you just might be wanting to get your license and feel prepared on the road after you put off getting it for years. Whatever the case, you’re stuck staring at endless pages online of driver’s education courses in your area, unsure which one to go with.
We get it: it’s incredibly overwhelming! So before you just give up and enroll in the first one that shows up in a search engine, make sure to thoroughly check the courses you find for a few important qualifications.
The Course Should Be Approved By Your State
A glance online and you’ll notice that there are online driver’s ed courses available. This might sound like an easy option, but you’ll want to first make sure your state even allows an online course to substitute for a traditional, in-person one. Additionally, you may find an online course that is suitable for one state but not for another—so check with the state agency that handles licensing to verify if a school is approved. Learn more about the driver’s education class requirements in your state.
Nothing is worse than taking an online course that isn’t even considered valid for your state. It’s a waste of time and money, so always check beforehand.
The Class Should be Accessible Anytime, Wherever You Are
After confirming that the class is approved in your state, the next thing you should check into is the class’s accessibility. Given that you’re taking your online driver’s ed class online because it promises a more convenient way of completing the course, you’d like to make sure that you can access the course materials anytime and anywhere.
First things first – check the schools’ educational platform. Is it web-based? Does it have a responsive design so that you can still access it conveniently on your mobile phone’s web browser? Does the school have an app dedicated to online driver’s ed? If yes, does it have a seamless user interface or is it constantly affected by technical glitches or bugs?
Next, check if there’s an overview of the course. If a free demo is available, you might want to take a quick look at the course outline. And there’s the dashboard – is it easy to navigate?
Also, check for course timers and progress trackers. Some states require a certain number of hours to be completed in a day, so an online course may include course timers in their programs, thus limiting your options in completing the course at your own pace.
Meanwhile, progress trackers or the auto-sync feature are important so that you can leave the course if you want to and get back to where you left off when you’re ready to continue the course.
Some schools also offer a read-along audio feature for free, but some offer it as an add-on.
The Class Should Be Reputable
Whether you opt for an online drivers ed class or a traditional one, you always want to ensure that the class you invest in is worth your time and money. If you find a class that doesn’t have many reviews or has only just been established, you may want to look for a different option.
It’s usually quite easy to tell if an in-person class is reputable. Depending on the size of your city, you can likely ask around and find people who have taken it. You can also scour the Yelp reviews and see what former students mention as the pros and cons of the class. Try to find one that has been established for a while with years in the business, and you can also ask them directly for testimonials. Take everything with a grain of salt, but also remember that no driver’s ed course will ever be perfect. You may hear about small issues here and there, but don’t let those send you running. Instead, figure out what will work best for you or your child in a driver’s education class and weigh that against the pros and cons.
Determining the quality of an online class is a bit harder, though. In the age of the internet, it’s easy for just about anyone to set up a website to try and get people to buy a product, and unfortunately, it means that some online classes are poor quality and others yet are scams. The internet isn’t that young, though, and roughly the same standards apply. Look for one that has good reviews, either listed directly on their website or in forums you find online. Additionally, figure out when the business started and aim to enroll in one that’s been around for at least ten years. This means they’ve been around long enough to know what does and doesn’t work well with driver’s education, and they’re probably on top of their game with technology. Some courses today even involve videos, interactive games, reflective essays, and multiple-choice quizzes, meaning the information is far easier to retain and put into action behind the wheel.
Decide If You Want Behind-The-Wheel Instruction
As you might have guessed, an online course will not offer you any type of practical application of your skills. If you are feeling particularly nervous about getting behind the wheel for the first time, you may benefit from a traditional course that will give you lessons in a car as well as in a classroom.
Safety should always be a priority, but you must decide if you or your child can actually commit to a full, in-person course. This usually entails many hours of classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction which is great, but it can also lead to burnout and students retaining less of the information. For busy students or adults who have full-time jobs, a traditional driver’s ed class can actually be a worse choice! Remember that it’s quality, not quantity, so the biggest goal should be to find a reputable and valuable class.
Additional Assistance
This is one of the categories where online classes truly have in-person classes beat. In a traditional driver’s ed course, you have a teacher available to you during class times only. With online classes, you can have the option to reach out for help 24/7/365. Every course will have different guidelines, but there are courses out there that offer help at any hour of the day. Since you have the option of working on the class whenever you have the time, which may end up being at odd hours, it makes sense to sign up for one that offers the most assistance possible.
No Hidden Fees
Some driving schools will charge you hidden fees if you’re not careful, and these are courses to avoid. They don’t run an honest business and are engaging in false advertising! If you see a course that imposes a bogus $20 shipping fee for your certificate of completion, then skip to the next choice. Additionally, some courses may not mention that they have a reactivation fee if you fail to complete the class in a certain amount of time. While this isn’t particularly shady business practice, it is good information to know.
To avoid choosing a driver’s ed course that isn’t trustworthy, check out the schools through the Better Business Bureau. It’s an easy way to find out what you can expect from your class.