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Driving school, traffic school, driver’s education or driver’s ed… These kinds of programs go by many names, but one thing is always the same: They help you learn more about how to drive safely. Whether you’re taking a driver’s education class of your own volition or the court’s ordered you to pass one to avoid the penalties of a ticket, this article has information that might answer your questions.

The Learning Structure for Driver’s Education Courses

Driver’s education courses can take on a variety of learning structures. Although what you’ll learn remains relatively the same from class to class, how you’ll learn can vary significantly. For example, there are both online and in-person driver’s ed courses that you can take. Which one you select will have a major impact on your learning experience.

Online driver’s ed courses tend to rely on an interactive user portal. You’ll be able to go access your course material online at any time, regardless of the teacher’s schedule. In many cases, there isn’t even a teacher at all. And, if there is, it’s likely that all of the lectures are pre-recorded videos offered asynchronously. These structures are ideal for people looking to learn at their own pace.

Driver’s ed courses taken in person are much more traditional in their learning structure. Examples include the driver’s ed classes for high school students organized by secondary school educators all across the country. These courses rely on a teacher actively presenting the course materials in front of the class in real time and require all students to attend in person.

But which is better, online or in-person? That’s a question that we can’t answer for you. But our hope is that, by the end of this article, we’ll have provided you with all the information you need to make an informed decision with our help. To keep things simple, we’ll touch on the three most relevant benefits of each and what they mean for you.

3 Benefits of Online Classes

There’s a reason online classes are becoming more common with each passing year. They’re convenient, they’re affordable, and (believe it or not) sometimes they’re fun.

Online Classes Are More Convenient

Most online classes take the form of an asynchronous learning structure. We mentioned that before, but what’s it actually mean? Asynchronous classes are classes that provide you with everything you’ll need to study all at once, leaving the decision to you for when to do so.

In other words, learn when you want to learn, not when a teacher tells you to. These courses are great for homeschooled students, working adults, and anybody who has a schedule that doesn’t neatly conform to standard schooling hours. Simply log in, study however much you want, and complete the course as quickly or as slowly as you’d like.

Online Classes Can Be More Affordable

This claim isn’t guaranteed, but it’s definitely a benefit when it turns out to be true. Not every driver’s ed course costs the same amount as the others. Some will be more expensive, others less expensive. But the point is, online classes often cost less than in-person classes.

In addition to potentially saving on enrollment costs, online courses can save you money on transportation. After all, it costs a whole lot less to walk from your couch to your computer than it does to fill up a tank of gas and go back and forth to and from school.

Online Classes Can Be More Fun

We know what you’re thinking: Classes are never fun. Although that might be the case for most classes, online driver’s ed courses aren’t like most classes. Sometimes, developers of online driver’s ed courses pride themselves on creating a gamified educational experience.

To be “gamified” means to provide an experience similar to that of playing video games. The student could be tasked with driving a virtual reality car on a track, identifying parts of an engine in a quick-paced trivia adventure, and any number of other fun activities.

However, this is far from the norm. Gamified education is becoming more popular with younger educators, but it’s still uncommon in the general marketplace. 

3 Benefits of In-Person Classes

In-person classes have many of the same qualities and benefits of online classes, but there are a few key differences that set them apart. Here are three great examples: You’ll receive a more personalized experience, you can ask more questions, and you might even get a chance to drive.

In-Person Classes Offer a More Personalized Learning Experience

When you enroll in an asynchronous online class, you generally get the same exact experience as everybody else who enrolls in that class. Classes that use intuitive training platforms powered by AI do offer a little more personalization, but the more tech you ask for the higher the price gets.

Part of the reason why online classes can seem so cookie-cutter is that they have to meet the needs of thousands upon thousands of students. Imagine being in a lecture hall with 100,000 other students. How much personal attention do you think you’d receive from the instructor?

On the other hand, in-person classes tend to have no more than 20 or 30 students enrolled at any one point in time. Your spot in that class weighs much more heavily on the average than your spot in the 100,000-person class would. This enables the instructor to better craft a lesson plan tailored to your specific needs.

In-Person Classes Allow You to Ask More Questions

In-person classes offer you the opportunity to sit in the presence of other students and a human instructor. You can then ask them questions, interact with them, and ask them to hone in on areas of the lessons that are giving you real difficulty in real time.

Granted, many online classes also offer some limited ability to ask questions. But those are usually limited to chat bots and tech support. Unfortunately, despite many attempts to do so, no online driver’s ed provider has yet to create an instructional chatbot that’s as helpful and personal as a real human teacher.

If you’re not big on social interaction, this might actually be a con rather than a pro. But, for those of us who like to be able to talk to other people, the in-person classes are the way to go. Whereas online classes might offer forums, discussion boards, or messaging chats, there’s something that needs to be said about the experience of face-to-face communication. Who knows? You might even make a few new friends!

In-Person Classes Can Provide the Opportunity to Get Real Driving Experience

In-person classes sometimes offer the opportunity to sit behind the wheel of a car under the watchful eye of a licensed instructor. This kind of learning experience can be invaluable for students who don’t have such opportunities at home. Why just read about how to drive a car when you can get actual, practical experience doing what you’ve read about?

Cost of Online vs. In-Person Driver’s Education Courses

As we talked about earlier, online driver’s ed courses tend to cost a bit less than in-person courses. For example, I Drive Safely offers asynchronous driver’s ed courses for as little as $24.95 (prices vary). On the other hand, in-person courses can cost hundreds of dollars.

This cost difference can be boiled down to one of the key differences we talked about earlier: Online courses don’t require full-time paid instructors. It’s a lot easier to cut costs when you don’t have to pay an instructor to actively manage, oversee, and teach the course.

Materials Needed for Driver’s Education

What you’ll need for a driver’s education course will depend on whether you take an online or an in-person course.

Online Classes

To take online driver’s ed classes, you’ll need all of the following:

• A laptop or computer.
• A stable Internet connection.
• A quiet place in which to complete your classwork.

In-Person Classes

To take in-person driver’s ed classes, you’ll need all of the following:

• A vehicle that you’re authorized to use.
• Car insurance in your name.
• Pencils or pens and paper.

You might also need additional materials subject to the discretion of your instructor.

Which Should You Choose?

The key question of this article is which should you choose: online or in-person driver’s ed. Although neither is objectively better than the other, there’s only one that will be the best option for you.

If you’re looking to take a course at will, whenever it’s convenient to you, for as cheap as possible, an online course might be your best choice. If you’re looking to get practical driving experience in a more personalized atmosphere while paying a lot more, then an in-person class might be your best choice.

At the end of the day it’s your decision. We’re just here to help make it count!