The classroom part of drivers ed classes is no one’s favorite part of learning how to drive, but it is a necessary step in the process. However much you might learn by watching your parents drive or paying attention whenever you sit in a passenger seat, it’s important to go over the basics of traffic laws and make sure you understand everything before you sit behind a steering wheel.
Still, there’s no arguing that driver’s ed is boring no matter how much more you need to learn. The textbooks are old, the videos are often even older, and even a good instructor can come off as boring thanks to the fact that hardly anything changes from one year to the next and they’ve had to go through the material even more times than any of the students.
But what if there were a better way?
The Benefit Of Online Classes
Right now, there’s something of a debate over whether online classes or in-person classes are better. Online classes give students the benefit of a built-in multimedia approach, and they can take place wherever a student can get a computer and an internet connection.
Thanks to mobile devices and Wi-Fi connections, this means classes can happen just about anywhere and at any time. To at least some extent, students can even move at their own pace, taking longer on a problem if they need to or breezing straight through if they find the subject matter easy.
On the other hand, in-person lessons allow students to make more solid connections with their teachers and their fellow students, and some people need a rigid schedule to motivate them into sticking with the lesson plan.
However, the math adds up differently when you look at driver’s ed classes instead of something like science or history. A driver’s ed course is much shorter than a semester of chemistry, and the material is so dull and strictly regulated by the state that it’s hard to make it interesting or fun. It’s also simple enough that most students don’t need much help from a professor or classmates to understand and get a passing grade.
The Need To Sort Good From Bad
If there is one major problem with online driver’s ed classes, it’s the fact that you can access any one of the sites certified to teach in your state. That’s not to say that choice is a bad thing, but it does demand that you do some research if you want to pick the best course.
After all, while there are a lot of ways you can use the internet to improve driver’s ed lessons, none of that is necessary. Instead, a drivers ed course could be as engaging as a textbook with a few simple pictures and nothing for the student to do but read page after page traffic laws.
Using videos, animations, and interactive web pages can’t make drivers ed exciting, but they can help students retain the information better and prevent the lessons from feeling like they’re dragging on forever.
What to Look For In An Online Driver’s Ed
Driver’s ed classes have been around since the early 2000s. There are a lot of choices to choose from and it can be overwhelming.
Making sure that you’ll get fresh and updated courses and learning materials is an important factor to consider. Some schools update their courses yearly, so you can rest assured that the curriculum is up to date. Keep in mind that, although it is regularly updated, the way the learning materials are written can still be outdated and videos might not be as interactive.
Another feature to consider is how user-friendly and accessible the course is. It would be more convenient if the school you’re going to choose can be accessed across multiple platforms and devices.
In choosing a school, you should know the features that they offer and weigh the pros and cons of their courses.
You should also compare your top choices by reading the most recent reviews from multiple sources. For instance, one can get bad customer service reviews today, but in a few days, they improve their services. So always look for the most recent reviews.
The Good News
Fortunately, you’ve come to Traffic School Critics, a site where we review all the different traffic schools and drivers ed classes you can find online and give them a rating of one to five. To get a high score, a site needs to be able to present the material in a way that engages the people using it, but that’s just to start things off. Other important factors include 24/7 customer service, a large number of graduates, and a sterling reputation. Free trials and discounts are also major points in their favor.
To most teens, driver’s ed classes are nothing more than a few hours of dull classroom sessions that stand between them and learning how to drive during the practical lessons and all the practice hours they’ll spend with their parents and other supervising adults. It’s necessary to get through them, at least if they want a driver’s permit as soon as possible, but there’s no reason why they should have to stick with the most boring option possible.
Online driver’s ed classes can let teens learn at their own pace and engage them better than in-person lessons, and thanks to Traffic School Critics, you can find out which are the best ones in your state.
Whether you choose to take in-person or online driver’s ed classes, you’re one step closer to getting your driver’s license. Choosing which learning style is best for you will help you succeed and excel. Completing your driver’s ed also helps you be safe while on the road after you obtain your license.