Yes, we said ridiculously awesome because online courses are the best! If we do say so ourselves… But for the next minute or so, hang with us and we’ll explain why we (and many others) think this is totally the case.
Let’s start with what’s wrong with the standard training option. Of course we’re building a stronger case for why online courses are the way to go. Not very stealthy since we do the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment mostly online, we know.
So we’re all aware of what it’s like to sit in a classroom with 20 – 30 other students, but just to drive our key points home about online courses and online learning, here are just some of the typical problems we’ve all experienced at some point in time.
You’re pretty much guaranteed to have at least one person in the class who has a thousand questions. We know they aren’t trying to be painful, they’re asking questions just so they can understand.
Now, questions are absolutely fine, we personally love and encourage them, but let’s be real, it can really slow down the learning for a large number of the class too.
if you’re one of the fast learning types. You have to wait, either because of the above, or because the trainer has to go at an average pace for the class, which again, if you’re a faster learner, can be frustrating or boring as bat… ummm… stuff! (“Bat stuff” being the PG version… we know you get it).
So you might be the opposite and not ask as many questions as you actually need to, particularly if you’re the person who needs extra help to understand.
Usually this is because you don’t want to slow the class down. or be a bother/burden and this makes us sad Pandas when this happens… We want all our students to feel like they can ask questions freely to learn.
Lots of hours. This is usually during the week too, so you have to take time out of work and/or your home life, in order to get the training done. Ugh. For some people this is easy, for others it means you actually can’t do the course.
The flow-on effect of not being able to take courses to up-skill is taking longer to move forward in your career; to get a better job and better conditions, or even just more job love!
We definitely want you to have more money, better work/life balance and lots of job love. This is why we chose to focus on the Cert IV TAE; being a trainer is often a promotion with lots more benefits!
There just isn’t enough time and space to get the one-on-one time, or they don’t have the knowledge to help you get it faster by using your industry jargon/language and industry examples, or be able to base helpful examples on the things you are interested in.
1 trainer to 20 – 30 people means less helpful support. Some don’t need it as much, some really need it. Either way, it means some students get left behind, and others are frustrated because they could be done already.
Ok, that’s enough of that.
We know there’s a lot of myths and misunderstandings about the online learning experience, including how it can be isolating and lonely… Just you, the reading material and the videos, going at your own pace, trying your hardest to understand what the hell the trainer is talking about, even though you have gone back and reread or rewatched that same part 3 times now, you still just don’t get it…
Well, it doesn’t have to be like that! We’ve been doing the online Cert IV TAE and diploma thing for a loooong time, so guess what? This just means we’ve solved many of the problems doing online courses used to come with so now, as we started telling you, online learning is ridiculously awesome!
This means you set your study schedule around your current non-negotiable responsibilities like work and certain family things you have to do. No having to take time off work, or having to disappear for weeks if you need to travel to do a course.
You can set up your study for once the kids are in bed, or when your partner is off doing other stuff (if you have either of them). Basically you set your online course study time for when it works for you! We think this is a pretty awesome benefit and leads into…
While we suggest you set up regular study times, you can also study when you suddenly find yourself with a few couple of free hours, or you can shift your study time when life happens and you need to be elsewhere instead. It’s your study, you decide when and where it works for you.
You get to study in the comfort of your own home, jammies and all if you want. Having all your creature comforts can help you focus on just learning, not being distracted by how uncomfortable the chair is, how cold/hot/bright/dark the room is or how loud the guy/girl next to you is tapping their pen, smells or talks too much.
So doing online courses means you can set yourself up in a space and place that’s just easier for you to learn in.
If you need to slow down to get your head around something, or if you really get it and want to speed through to the next section, you can! We don’t really need to explain this one any further. You get it.
Ok, this might just be a special perk when you do one of our standard online courses but still, it’s such a huge benefit we had to mention it. To help you keep moving forward, anytime you get stuck you can reach out to your trainer and get personalised help to get unstuck, to ask questions so you really get it, or just clarify something so you keep on going.
This is a critical piece of high quality online courses; the support you get. No keeping other class members back because you’re stuck on something, and no need to worry about what anyone else is thinking if you need extra time with your trainer! They’re there for this sole purpose, just to help you!
Like we said, lots of benefits and doing online courses are ridiculously awesome. But if after all that you still want to take time out of your work and life to do a live course with 20 – 30 other people, we celebrate you because we know everyone has to choose what’s best for them. Yay!
So we’ll stay over here in the online Cert IV TAE and diploma section of the training world, and if you ever find yourself wanting a promotion or new career path but with flexibility and study time in your jammies or trackies, with the extra bonus perk of world class trainers who’ll love on you with loads of help and support, we’re your people 🙂
study@fortresslearning.edu.au
