Do the research

Doing the research involves finding information you need to plan your course. There are usually three basic questions to answer. These are whether you should learn full- or part-time, the method of instruction, and the location. The following considerations can help you answer these three questions. Take some time to consider:

·  Time. How much time will it take, versus how much time do you have?

·  Cost. How much will it cost, versus how much money do you have available?

·  Importance. How important is the course to you? How important is quality instruction?

·  Restrictions. Which is your greater restriction, time or cost?

You often start your research with some basic ideas of time and costs, however after further research you may find that you need to change those assumptions. Don’t be afraid to take a “point of view” early in your research on what may be the right answer. Change your view though if you gain new information that suggests another answer.

Let’s now look at the commitment, method and location questions in more detail.

Commitment—full-time or part-time?

Often the biggest choice that influences your planning is whether to learn full-time or part-time. Both methods have their advantages. Let’s look at some:

Sometimes you may not have a choice. If you do have a choice, consider the non-financial impacts of your choice. For example, how could your study impact your family or relationships? Lastly, think about your history. If you have always found it difficult to complete a part-time course, perhaps you should choose full-time instead.

Method—self-study, individual instruction or classes?

The second key question to answer is the method of study. This again affects the time, cost and quality of your training. There are usually three main choices:

·  Self-study. This is a good choice if you are a self-directed learner. It also has the advantages of being cheaper and you can study at your own pace. You may find it difficult though to stay motivated. You may find it difficult to talk to knowledgeable person. You may not have access to the experience of an instructor, teacher and potentially others.

·  Individual instruction. Individual instruction usually means you receive one-on-one training or coaching from someone with experience and knowledge. Usually this is the best choice considering time and quality of training, however it’s also usually the most expensive choice.

·  Group or class based learning. Often a better choice considering cost-effectiveness, however you also have to deal with the others in the group. You also need to keep pace with the group. You do have access to a knowledgeable person, although they must split their time across the group. If your learning objective involves working with other people, for example a presentation or communication course, you may find group-based learning a better choice.

Again, sometimes you may not have a choice on the method of instruction, for example when sitting certain qualifications or licenses. In flight training, for example, you must learn flying skills from an instructor. You have a choice for the theory parts though.

Consider how you will get your learning material. Is most of it coming from well-structured books, or do you have to listen to long lectures and extract your material verbally from your instructor? Do you have a choice of which references to use? The answers to these questions may influence which method you choose. For example, I often spend money on a good set of books and use self-study, rather than attend a course or class.

Quick suggestion: If you are planning to use an instructor or go to a class, ask the instructor or class lead if they know of Memletics. Are they are wiling to use it? Do they support you using Memletics during your training? If they have not heard of it, suggest they visit the Memletics website ^ý.

Location—local or further away?

For many courses you may have to choose where you want to study, train or practice. You may have to choose between training providers in the suburbs versus the CBD, or in regional or country areas rather than the city. Sometimes your choices may extend to interstate or overseas providers. Often cost drives choices like these, however you may also find there are not many local providers and therefore you need to travel.

If you are thinking of studying further away because those providers are cheaper, make sure you also consider time as well as cost. For example, include the time to travel there and back. Often people find it difficult to put a cost on their time, so here’s a simple method. Work out your personal hourly rate. Ask yourself, “how valuable is my time.” Another way of asking this is “how much am I willing to pay to save an hour of my time.”

Let’s use an example to help you answer those questions. You are on your way home from somewhere and you miss the bus. The next one is not for an hour. Assume it’s too far to walk. Would you be willing to pay 10 cents to catch a cab or taxi? Would you pay one dollar? Two, five, ten dollars or more? Where you stop is roughly your personal hourly rate. Here’s another example. Compare the cost of an eleven-hour train trip to a one-hour flight. Divide the maximum cost difference you would accept by ten, and you have another indicator of your personal hourly rate.

How do you apply this to your training? If you could drive to a training provider that’s out of town, but it takes an extra two hours to drive there and back, is it worth it? If your personal hourly rate is roughly five dollars, you need to be saving at least ten dollars on each class to make the extra travel worthwhile. You may also want to add the cost of fuel to get there and back.

Also consider whether you could better spend that time with your partner, with your children, or on extra study. If you can’t avoid a long trip, look at how you can use the time. Perhaps record some of your lesson material on to a tape or CD and play it during the trip.

Use guides to help you decide

Once you have made the high-level decisions on time, method and location, you then need to decide the finer details. For example, which book, instructor, training provider, or school will you use?

Rather than make these choices on instinct or based on your own experiences so far, I suggest you seek out some guides that can help you. For example, the “Learn to Fly guide” I described earlier includes two checklists, with 70+ checks, for selecting both a school and an instructor. It contains lots of information to help you make an informed choice. If you are spending much money, it’s likely that someone else has already written a guide to help you make the right choices. If you can’t find one, try asking people who have followed a similar path what they think are the key questions you should ask. If all else fails, sit down and brainstorm at least ten questions. Make sure three of them you ask are:

·  What are the common questions other students ask before they decide?

·  Can I talk to some students already studying?

·  How does the provider feel about using learning systems like Memletics?

I suggest you make a preliminary decision on a training provider, however don’t sign up immediately. Wait until you finish the planning activities outlined in the rest of this section. Be prepared to walk away if the training provider puts undue pressure on you to “sign up today otherwise you miss out.”