A
Fable, and
Some Explanation
There's an old story about two brothers who each
wanted to marry the same princess. To win her
hand, an evil ogre has to be defeated. The older
brother travels for days and days until he reaches
the ogre' castle. "I am older, and wise beyond my
years," he thinks. "I will use my wits and experience
and trick the ogre into releasing the princess." He
develops an extremely clever plan to baffle the
wicked ogre, and is promptly eaten. The younger
brother also travels for days and days, until he
reaches the land of the ogre. He stops in a village
for a while and asks some questions. He' given a
rare herb that will put the ogre' wild dogs to sleep,
a special arrow that will pierce the ogre' armor, and
a magic rope that will reach the high tower where
the princess is imprisoned. He uses the herb to put
the wild dogs to sleep, the rope to rescue the
princess, and the arrow to kill the ogre and escape.
Needless to say, he and the princess live happily
ever after.
The point of this story is that if you want to
succeed, you need the right tools for the job. In the
real estate classroom, one of the right tools is a good
set of instructional materials. No matter
how good their presentation skills,
instructors who try to teach a new
course by relying solely on their wits and
experience are quite likely to end up
being eaten, like the older brother.
An instructor who is armed with a
lecture outline, visual aids and classroom
exercises is much more likely to
live happily ever after, and enjoy positive evaluations.
.
The importance of instructor preparation
for a course is obvious. As the
number of available course topics continues
to grow, however, educators are
confronted with a sometimes overwhelming
array of courses developed by
a wide variety of providers, from corporations
and individuals, traditional
publishers and technology vendors,
schools across the country and motivational speakers.
Everyone, it seems, has a real estate continuing
education course that will thrill students, delight
instructors and bring prosperity to schools. But
faced with all this bountiful choice, how is an educator
to decide? How can a school owner or
instructor know which courses will work on all
levels—as educational experiences for students, as
instructional experiences for teachers, and as business
investments for schools?
The purpose of this article is to help educators
develop a clear set of standards
for making important
course-adoption decisions.
While the article focuses
on continuing education
(because that' where most of
the diversity is found), the
fundamental principles apply
to all courses, from principles
to non-credit professional
development. While there
are a number of considerations
in making a course
adoption decision (such as relevance,
regulatory approval,
marketability and profitability),
the key to a successful
course offering comes down
to the instructor and how
well he or she is prepared to
present the material. This
article, then, focuses on that key element. We will
describe good Instructional Resource Materials
(IRMs) from four viewpoints: concept, coverage,
evaluation, and application (utilization). Effectively
utilized, a win-win situation can be created in the
real estate classroom. Since not everyone is a
skilled platform presenter, and not everyone is
skilled researcher, and not everyone is a skilled
course developer, it makes sense to use the skills
of each for the benefit of the consumer: the real
estate licensee.
Under All Is…
Education
Education is at the heart of the real estate industry.
While the Preamble to the NAR Code of Ethics may
assure us that "under all is the land," nobody can
actually do anything with the land unless they'
taken a pre-license class or, in some states, a series
of pre- and post-license classes. Most states now
require at least some verifiable continuing education
hours for license renewal, and the opportunities
for professional growth and development
courses are innumerable. As licensees take
time and pay money to attend
classes, they become
more knowledgeable about
the material being taught,
and more demanding of presenters.
No longer the room
full of frightened adults trembling
with test-anxiety, students
are busy professionals, taking
time from money-making
activities and family responsibilities
to fulfill a state mandated
requirement or improve
their business potential.
They expect to be able
to choose from an assortment
of relevant courses that will
help them be more successful,
presented in a clear,
rational, and possibly entertaining
way by a lively, competent
presenter. Needless to say, this has left
instructors, schools, conventions and all providers
scrambling to deliver better course work.
These issues are not new. In the 1997 REEA
Journal, Wilcox noted that the number one mistake
that professionals make during their presentation is
"winging it"— is, jumping into the course without
being thoroughly prepared. He included other
mistakes that can be addressed by better instructor
resource materials, including boring presentations,
improper use of visuals, and misuse of available time.
In 1999, REEA adopted a Course Development
Workshop (CDW) to complement its Instructor
Development and Teaching with Technology workshops.
The day-long CDW discusses the need for
integrating a course outline, learning objectives,
visuals, instructor notes, exam questions, and
teaching methods. (See Spodek, REEA Journal,
1999). In short, it addresses the potential pitfalls
cited by Wilcox. The instructional design theory
underlying the need for these tools is explored by
Butterfield (REEA Journal, 1998).
As the demand for more variety has surfaced,
course developers are scrambling to fill the gap.
While instructors have informally shared materials
for years, the sheer number of new courses being
developed, coupled with increasingly demanding
regulatory considerations, has made a more formal
mechanism necessary. In part in response to this
current need, REEA has launched the Course
Exchange Program— clearinghouse to bring
course providers and course developers together in
a single convenient forum. For their part, leading
publishers and serious course developers are finding
it necessary to expand the "product" they offer,
largely by providing, in various degrees of effectiveness,
instructor materials.
IRMs: A Winning Idea
The basic idea underlying an effective IRM is to
that instructors should be able to pick up the materials
and teach the class, confident that the material
is thoroughly covered in a variety of teaching
methods. In short, the "nightmare scenario" of
being called at three in the afternoon to substitute
teach an unfamiliar course that starts at seven
that evening should be a thing of the past. For
schools, the "nightmare scenario" of trying to find
an instructor with specific expertise on short
notice is also solved. With sound IRMs, really,
everyone wins:
• Instructors win because much of their
preparatory work is done for them. A good
IRM provides instructors with the basic tools
and content they need for an organized,
targeted, high quality presentation, leaving
them free to excel at what they do best: teach.
• Students win because a better prepared instructor
will offer a better learning experience. Good
IRMs include classroom exercises, visual
aids, learning objectives and an emphasis on
structure and organization that work together
to create a more appealing, and more successful,
educational experience.
• Schools win because good IRMs make it easier
and more economical to attract and schedule
instructors, and cleaner, more professional
in-class experiences for students to bring
students back for more.
• Even regulators win, because the good, complete
IRM can give them a much clearer idea of the
course content and presentation when making
their course approval decisions.
A Buyer' & Seller' Guide
to Course Acquisitions
There are, obviously, many issues to be considered
in deciding whether or not to adopt a course developed
by an outside entity. Cost, subject matter, and
the author' reputation, for instance, are certainly
important considerations. But an easy rule of thumb
to keep in mind is this: The stronger and more complete
the instructor materials, the easier the course
will be to offer. It' also more likely that a course
that' strongly supported by IRMs will be generally better organized,
more complete, more thorough
and easier for students to comprehend.
Seller' Considerations
Course developers— is, sellers— more
likely to spend the time and energy in providing
instructor support material because they will be
compensated for this effort. They know that the
Page 18 Real Estate Educators Association Journal 2002-2003 The Right
Tools for the Job
effort is going far beyond just a few students in local
classes. They should recognize that the more thorough
the IRM, the easier it is for a school or
instructor to buy the material to implement immediately.
And on a more "noble" note, good IRMs
will ensure that the valuable course they' developed
will be taught in a thorough, accurate way
that helps students be better professionals. Further,
a complete course outline and learning objectives
are a big step toward ensuring that the entire course
is logically organized and its content clearly stated.
Copyright issues must be addressed before
marketing any materials. This cannot be stressed
too much, and yet it is a consideration too
frequently overlooked by independent course developers.
There are specific federal laws that govern
what materials may be copied from which sources,
and when. Something may be perfectly legitimately
copied for use in a developer' own classroom under
certain circumstances, but it may be completely
illegal to sell the same material to other instructors.
(See Butterfield, "Copyright Issues 2001," audio
recording from the 2001 REEA Conference in
Orlando, Florida.) If your adopters can' be secure
in the knowledge that your course is free of copyright
infringement, and that no publisher' or
author' attorneys are going to come knocking at
their door, they won' adopt the course. As the
widespread dissemination of information on the
Internet brings intellectual property issues more
into general awareness, this issue will only increase
in importance.
Buyer' Considerations
Course buyers know that the main advantage of an
acquired course is that someone else has done all
the research and course development. They also
know that the main disadvantage to buying a prepackaged
course is that someone else has done all
the research and course development. For course
buyers, there' a learning curve involved. They
know that if they had done the research and development,
they would be intimately knowledgeable
about the material. So, they want to know how fast
they can pick up and run with a packaged course.
There are four main advantages to buying a packaged
course:
• Saves the buyer time and money. The high
cost of development is essentially time for
which the instructor does not get paid. A standard
rule of thumb is four hours of development
for every one hour of class time.
• High quality of materials. A skilled
developer
can deliver powerful visuals, detailed research,
and creative supplemental materials more efficiently
than someone who does not necessarily
develop courses full-time.
• More offerings. Since buyers have more
time to
do what they do best: that is, teach, they now
have more offerings to offer providers.
• Ability to customize. Buyers can still
customize
each course, to make it state-specific, or to
match an existing curriculum, or to fit the "look
and feel" of a particular school' brand, all in a
very short period of time.
Evaluating Courses: A 3-Step Approach
1. Schools and instructors should decide which components
of the IRM are most valuable to them.
This will assist them in deciding which course
to buy and how to pay for it. Obviously, the
more that is provided, the more valuable it is.
2. They should decide if the material is marketable
in their area. Is there an application?
3. Presenters still need to allocate time to study
the textbook, student handouts, instructor
notes, and visuals. They need to determine
whether the materials will work for their students,
and whether any required technologies
for supporting the presentation are available.
Also, any copyright issues should be addressed.
The Right Tools for the Job Real Estate Educators Association Journal
2002-2003 Page 19
What follows is an overview of various components,
which may or may not be included in any IRMs.
IRM Content: The Elements
Outline: The outline is the way that we
write, the
road map to the destination. The outline should be
simple, logical and give the complete overview of
the material to be covered. The outline may be a
simple skeletal description of the course, or may
include detailed Lecture Notes, which basically
function as a "script" for the instructor.
Learning Objectives: Learning objectives are
lesson plans, the way that we teach the course. A well written learning
objective indicates the level
of the material taught: from the simplest to the
most complex, i.e., recall, comprehension, and
application. Even more helpful to both the developer
and the instructor is the inclusion of the time
frames, teaching methods and exam questions.
Retention/Exam Questions: Questions can be
as
simple as true/false, more difficult with multiple
choice, and most detailed with essay questions
and/or group activities. Some method of testing
retention is definitely required for any print, computer
based training (CBT) or Internet delivery,
and some states require that testing be done even at
the end of live delivery. Thus, it is imperative that
course developers test for material that they know
has been delivered; item writing directly related to
each learning objective. This insures that the item
has been presented, either in the text or visual.
Visuals: As Wilcox pointed out in 1997,
"Visuals
can actually be your notes, uncovered one at a time.
They can keep you on track… to enforce a
point… has shown that presenters using
graphics are seen as better prepared, more professional,
more persuasive, more credible and more
interesting." Every learning objective can become a
visual (as well as supporting an exam question).
Visuals, even if only words, assist the hard of
hearing learners as well as visual and tactile learners,
the ones who want to highlight something in the
text/handouts. PowerPoint® visuals can be printed
on transparency to use with an overhead projector,
printed three to a page for a student handout or projected
directly from the instructor' laptop to a wall
screen or television.
Student Interaction: It is generally
acknowledged
that while the fastest way to impart information is
the lecture method, it also has the lowest retention.
Lecture is generally useful when learners are not at
all familiar with the material, i.e., pre-licensing.
However, most continuing education courses
should include activities to stimulate discussion and
to reinforce new behavior. A course developer can
be creative by researching material for case studies,
creating role-plays and suggesting topics for small
group discussion.
State-Specific Info: The research will indicate to
the course developer specific state concerns. The
developer can indicate what exactly the school or
instructor should research in order to customize the
presentation/course.
Back to the Fable
So consider the older brother in the story at the
beginning of this article. What he did was not
"wrong" It made perfect sense, and was completely
reasonable: He was older, smarter, and had a clever
plan - what could go wrong? As he found out, sometimes
just being older, smarter and having a good
plan isn't enough. Sometimes it takes research,
groundwork and specialized tools to get the job
done. Not every educator has the time to do the
research, run the groundwork, and find all the specialized
tools necessary to make sure that a class
turns out to be a valuable educational experience
for students, and a profitable "product" in the education
marketplace. That' why educators rely on
course developers to give them the tools they need
to get the job done, to educate the students so that
everyone can live happily ever after.
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