BRUCE CAGENELLO – ‘Embryonic stage’
Every two years, Connecticut real estate agents and brokers buckle down and sign up for 12 hours of continuing education. They spend three hours learning about mandatory real estate law and fair-housing regulations, three hours learning about real estate agency in Connecticut and another six hours learning about other aspects of the business.
Usually, the real estate professionals sit in darkened classrooms, sometimes in hotel meeting rooms during real estate conferences, during those 12 hours. But lately, those real estate professionals are finding it more difficult to carve out those 12 hours from their busy lives.
Enter the Connecticut Real Estate Commission. Last year, the leadership of the commission encouraged the Connecticut General Assembly to pass a law to allow some continuing education courses to be completed online.
The suggestions sparked debate in the real estate industry. If someone takes a class online, how can the instructor be sure the person is who he or she says they are? Will the student learn as much as he or she would in a traditional classroom?
But those questions were answered quickly. Not many real estate agents or brokers would be willing to take a class for someone else, said commission Chairman Bruce Cagenello. And after representatives from Chicago-based Dearborn Real Estate Education demonstrated an online class at a conference last year, many skeptics realized that online learning could be as effective as traditional learning.
Cagenello called the class “terrific.”
“You really learn a lot,” he said.
The Legislature passed the law, so the commission requested that the University of Connecticut Real Estate Center, along with Chicago-based Dearborn Real Estate Education, develop a course on Connecticut law and fair housing, according to the text of a speech given by Cagenello last month at a meeting of the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce Real Estate Council in Middleton.
“[Online education] has opened up a completely new education world for licensees, providing for flexibility and new types of pedagogy that we think will be extremely beneficial,” said Cagenello, who is also a commercial real estate specialist at Prudential Connecticut Realty in Avon, during his speech.
Katherine Pancak, an associate professor at the University of Connecticut’s Stamford campus, answered the commission’s request. Pancak has experience with online learning and has taught undergraduate and graduate classes online. So she worked with Dearborn to write the class on law in fair housing, which she and Dearborn are now in the process of finalizing.
The option of taking such a class online is important to busy real estate professionals, she said.
“Probably the No. 1 reason is it gives them more flexibility,” Pancak said.
‘More Flexibility’
Another plus of online courses is that they require the student to learn the material before moving on to the next section, Pancak said. In traditional continuing education classes, there is no requirement for the students to answer questions. Some students even read books at the back of the room while the instructor is speaking, she said.
“There’s no requirement they learn the material,” Pancak said.
Online classes, therefore, realistically can provide a more complete education because they require the student to interact.
“They actually have to pay some attention,” Pancak said.
When the commission first proposed the idea, many local real estate professionals questioned how effective online courses could be, Pancak said. To calm their fears, Pancak introduced them to a member of the nationwide Association of Real Estate License Law Officials who told the Connecticut agents that there is little difference in the effectiveness of online vs. traditional courses.
“I think that put most people’s minds at ease,” Pancak said.
The content of the online courses should be nearly identical to the content of traditional courses, Pancak said.
“I’m hoping the content is the same,” she said.
Some of the negatives associated with online courses are that students can’t ask the instructor questions right away and that there is no interaction with classmates, Pancak said.
Although Cagenello isn’t sure exactly how the courses will work, an instructor will be available for students during each course, he said. Students can e-mail the instructor with questions and there may be occasional face-to-face meetings during the course, he said.
But although the courses will be available soon, they are still being finished, Cagenello said.
“They’re really in the embryonic stage here,” he said.
If the online course for continuing education works out well, the commission might consider allowing online courses for initial licensure, Pancak said.
The Legislature recently passed a law that increases the number of hours of principles and practices of real estate courses for people seeking to become real estate agents from 30 to 60. Brokers also must complete 60 hours of principles and practices and, in addition, have to take 30 hours of Appraisal I and 30 hours of a real estate-related elective course.
If part of that were online, it would help many students cope with the demands of qualifying for a license, Pancak said. Many of her students are non-traditional and getting to classes in addition to working a full-time job or raising children at home, which can sometimes be difficult.
“Online education is happening in many different venues,” she said.
Pancak stressed that even though online courses will soon be available for continuing education, they are not required. Real estate professionals still can take traditional classes if they are not comfortable with online courses. Nor will online classes ever completely take the place of traditional education, she said. But it will be an important supplement, and she expects the online courses to be popular.
Although Realtors are notorious for their lack of technological savvy, most are catching up and the tutorials included in online courses make them simple to use, Pancak said.
“It’s pretty self-explanatory,” she said.
Neither Pancak nor Cagenello were sure how the cost of online courses would compare to the cost of traditional courses. Representatives from Dearborn did not return phone calls.
