What Is You Favorite Place To Get Your Continuing Education From?

[Doug in NC]

I'll have to take more CE by June. Just wondering what others' favorite CE organizations are. I've taken online and live classes from the Appraisal Institute and McKissock, as well as several others. McKissock seems to give the best bang for your buck, but I have to say I don't like taking their online classes because they actually take longer to complete than if you went to a live class (because the live class gets you out by the planned ending time).

 

[Walter Kirk]

After over 20 years of taking continuing ed classes I must say that my favorites have been AI classes. I used to enjoy taking a couple of days driving a few hundred miles, meeting new people and learning. Unfortunately that is expensive and my appraisal practice can no longer afford that luxury. I now take the most inexpensive online classes available. I normally view them while eating lunch. They are not the most intellectually stimulating but they serve the purpose.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Just wondering what others' favorite CE organizations are

The ones that pay me to teach? Seriously...

The very best classes I have attended were taught by highly qualified people and often involve multiple organizations and/or societies. That would include perhaps ASA, IFA, AI, ASFRMA, and/or others, or multiple chapters such as a class I attended in NM with Great Plains and NM chapters combined. Teachers like John Widdoss, Mark Lewis, and my all time favorite class in Denver was a combined affair with about 10 speakers with some of the top names in resource appraising such as John Gustavson and Trevor Ellis in addition to more traditional appraisal experts like Widdoss, whom I have taken several courses under.

It is a vacuum in any person's education to not expand into other states and take on new experiences in education and projects. I've taught in 3 states and taken classes in 6. Yes, it costs, but I view it as a break from work, in addition to an education...and the cost is tax deductible.

 

[Mr Rex]

Mel Blacks folks @ Brightpath do a good job.

 

[Michigander]

I've enjoyed AI classes tremendously, and have felt I have learned quite a bit from the more intensive ones. Took a class from NAIFA that was great as well. Understand the IRWA has some pretty fabulous classes as well. Take a subject that interests you and find who offers them, and take those classes. I've taken a number of review classes and Yellow Book/ED classes as those are what interest me. Have yet to take an IRWA class, but need to if I am ever to get serious about ED work. Oh, Chip Wagner taught the best relocation class I've ever attended.

 

[Doug in NC]

Is it just me, or does it end up taking longer to complete the online class than it would if you attended a live class? I've found on more than one occasion that a 7 hour online class can easily end up taking me actually 8 hours to complete. I see that as one of the advantages of taking a live class - you put in your 8 hour day (including lunch hour and breaks) and you're out the door with a certificate.

 

[Bobby Bucks]

Is it just me, or does it end up taking longer to complete the online class than it would if you attended a live class? I've found on more than one occasion that a 7 hour online class can easily end up taking me actually 8 hours to complete. I see that as one of the advantages of taking a live class - you put in your 8 hour day (including lunch hour and breaks) and you're out the door with a certificate.

I agree with you that some may take longer, but the benefit of online CE is you don't have to commit to the entire day once you start, you can stop at any point, save your results, come back later that day or several days later. I believe most give you many days to complete it. There is nothing worse than sitting in a 7 hour CE course and checking your email and realizing you should have chosen another day for CE. As far as learning, there is far more to be learned in this forum than suffering through the war stories of some arrogant windbag with initials who hasn't signed a report in years.

 

[graindart]

Is it just me, or does it end up taking longer to complete the online class than it would if you attended a live class?

It probably depends on the person and the course. If technically savvy, I've seen exactly the opposite. Approximately 3-4 hours to finish an online "7 hour" course. That 3-4 hours of online class is ALL learning / reviewing the information, which is probably pretty equivalent to the actual time spent learning / reviewing the information in the live in-person class. I prefer online classes due to cost and not having to sit through other people's stories. With the online classes I've taken, at least you have to pass tests / quizzes to verify that you at least understood the information for a couple of minutes. For the live in-person classes I've taken, I just had to be able to sign my name at the end to prove that I was still alive.

 

[Howard Klahr]

you put in your 8 hour day (including lunch hour and breaks) and you're out the door with a certificate.

Are you looking for hours or an education?

 

[bnmappraisal]

Are you looking for hours or an education?

sometimes both

Personally I prefer live classes. I learn more from them than from just reading something.