INCREASING REAL ESTATE STUDENT ENGAGEMENT WITH TECHNOLOGY

By: Bruce Moyer, DREI, 2018-2019 REEA President

Imagine standing in front of a room full of American students. Now imagine trying to teach the ins and outs of practicing real estate in the United States in French. There’s a chance a student or two might have completed a few years of French class in high school. But for the most part, even if you clearly give them all of the information they need, speaking a foreign language will make it nearly impossible to achieve a positive outcome for most of your students.

Technology can be viewed as its own language. As real estate educators, we must be able to speak to the language of technology that our students will quickly become responsible for in the real estate transactions. Some states don’t have a minimum education entry requirement (such as a high school diploma), and this poses a unique opportunity for real estate educators to bring forth technology in a friendly environment. To some students, even using a lockbox access device or shooting professional property photos is frightening (at best). As educators, we have the ability to expose these students to such tools in a less frightening way. The use of technology in classes can be awe-inspiring, even for those who are comfortable with it. We, as effective educators, have the opportunity to bridge the worlds between novice and expert.

THE BLACKBOARD GOES DIGITAL
I recently handed an iPad to a student and had her write a math problem for the class as I dictated it. The iPad was linked to my projector, so the student was now writing on the board for everyone else to see. The students got excited by this cool use of technology—so much so that I no longer need to write anything. The students do the writing for me! They jump at the opportunity to write on the “board” and are more engaged in the learning process as a result.

Another example of using technology to improve engagement comes from a recent homework assignment that made use of video content curated by the students. I asked them to research any television shows that involved real estate issues. I had them bring their phones, and I connected them to the projector to show clip after clip of real estate topics in current and not so current television shows, like Gunsmoke and Law & Order. It was enjoyable for the students, and we had several laughs. But most importantly, the videos served as a backdrop for a discussion about how the issues were resolved in the videos versus how they are addressed in the modern real estate industry.

MUSIC AS A TEACHING TOOL
Bringing music into the classroom is another way to bring students and technology together. Playing music during classroom breaks is a wonderful way of allowing students to express their individuality. I take a bluetooth connection speaker into the room and invite students to play (appropriate) music they have on their phones during the breaks. I find this gets them comfortable sharing with the rest of the class. But just as important, it gives them exposure to the same Bluetooth technology they will use with their lockboxes to gain entry to a home. This further empowers them to be more comfortable with technology.

By getting students to use technology and bring forward something they are familiar with and used to, we as educators get more insight into who they are as individuals and can further assist their learning processes.

It is not uncommon for educators to want to do everything we can for our students. Yet their success, and ultimately our success, depends on getting them to take an active role in their education and career. Technology provides an effective pathway to accomplishing that.

Article courtesy of Dearborn Real Estate Education

About Bruce Moyer, DREI
Bruce Moyer is a NC instructor for prelicensing, postlicensing, and continuing education courses with Superior School of Real Estate. He is the former Director of Education and Licensing with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission and is currently volunteering with the national Real Estate Educators Association (REEA). He is a regular contributing author and teaches the weekly Interactive Study Group for Dearborn.

Bruce is the current national 2018-2019 REEA President a DREI "Distinguished Real Estate Instructor" and also holds his GSI "Gold Standard Instructor" GOLD Certification with REEA.

WHAT REEA MEANS TO ME? By Andy Brown, ME, DTM, GSI, DREI-Candidate

When I look back at the twists and turns in my life, is very clear to me that I unknowingly stepped on to a path of becoming an instructor over 35 years ago. Your own life’s details are fascinating to you but not so much to anyone else. Regardless, here I am today, a full-time real estate licensing school owner and instructor.

On the surface, my wife Pam Matera and I stumbled upon the Climer School of Real Estate. Underneath, it was an inevitable moment of opportunity at the right place at the right time. Every day, every minute, we work to make the most of this opportunity.

What I discovered is that there is a lot of competition from individuals who do not have what I call, “the heart and soul of instructor”. They think its easy money. When we bought the school, we didn’t even know that an organization such as REEA existed. What an incredible, eye-opening delight it was to discover this organization of peers.

REEA has provided me with a national network that has allowed me to not only grow as instructor but develop new friends who understand our unique set of challenges. Having been in the real estate, mortgage, and title industry for over 20 years when I took over the role as head instructor at the Climer school, it felt at times as though I was an island. No one that I knew in my community was faced with the new challenges that I had in front of me.

Suddenly REEA was filled with hundreds of other people who knew and understood exactly what I was going through. Our first REEA Annual Conference felt like the delivery of a blessing. All of these other real estate instructors around the country all dealing with the same types of issues that we were dealing with on a daily basis. People that I could confide to, learn from, grow with, and use as my own teachers and mentors to be able to continue my growth as a real estate instructor.

REEA has also allowed me to continue to gain knowledge, insights, and perspectives on new and cutting-edge instructional concepts, techniques, and tools.

At the Climer School of Real Estate, we like to think that we have very open minds and a willingness to change. All of our instructors and staff know that everything we do is for our students. When we ask them to do something, it is because we think it is best for our students. If we think it’s not working or something better has come along, we will change - no questions asked.

It’s not about us, it’s about our students.

My involvement with REEA has created many changes at the Climer School of Real Estate compared to how we were doing things when we first took over. I have no doubt that with our continued involvement; the Climer School will see many more changes in the future as well.

Andy Brown, Director of Education & Training
The Climer School of Real Estate
Orlando, FL
2019 REEA Educator of the Year, ME, DTM, GSI, DREI-Candidate

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