Professional education, and specifically education that leads to real estate licensure, is advancing the future of online education. While online learning has become popular, it often comes with a lack of standard technology and student support.
Colibri Real Estate is surpassing the norms of education whether in the classroom, at a university or online, to become the leading education company for real estate professionals. More than half a million people have taken advantage of its next-generation courses, which include pre-licensing education, real estate exam prep and continuing education.
The company offers classroom, livestream and online course options with the expertise of hundreds of local instructors.
Among the courses available are those dealing in agency agreements, antitrust, licensee compensation, issues that licensees encounter as well as REALTOR®-specific topics related to the National Association of REALTORS®’ Code of Ethics and MLS systems.
Rachel McGuire, director of B2B sales and partnerships at Colibri Real Estate, notes that it’s important to have classes that meet all learning styles. And that means evolving to offer more classes featuring livestreams and online options.
“We have a really good pulse on the demands of being a working professional and for those who have been in the industry for a long time,” she says. “We know time is of the essence, and time is money, so being able to meet learning needs with flexibility, combined with a best-in-class education is what sets Colibri as the go-to education provider in the industry.”
In 2023, Colibri focused on making significant investments in the improved learning experience for real estate professionals. Among its accomplishments were launching new online continuing education courses for real estate agents and brokers in nearly two dozen states; releasing new online pre-licensing classes for aspiring real estate agents in Michigan and Massachusetts; and testing a visual learning platform to improve learning retention and exam pass rates for real estate students.
“We’ve looked to align our education with the way our learners consume it, allowing them to take things on the go, creating a lesson structure for someone who isn’t able to sit down and continuously focus on it full-time as you would in a classroom,” says Andrew Robinson, head of product, content and innovation at the company. “We’re breaking down lessons that are more manageable to consume in one sitting and building in the concept of goal setting and tracking against those goals, performing against your ultimate target date for when you want to complete the program.”
Colibri also launched a new interactive learning platform for aspiring real estate professionals that includes goal trackers, learning paths and a comprehensive view of each student’s current and past courses—which earned Colibri an award from the ARELLO Education Certification Committee.
“Yesteryear, I would almost say our courses were like an electronic textbook, though more advanced,” says Robinson. “Now we’ve got a significant back-and-forth to make sure our learners understand the concepts we’re teaching them and ensure that they’re engaged. Every few minutes, they’re getting something different thrown at them. And we’re doing different things to engage them.”
For instance, Colibri’s new immersive learning experience brings the content to life by reading the course aloud while dynamically highlighting each word on the page to let students follow along.
Not only has the content improved, but Colibri has done little things like adding video and changing font sizes in addition to how paragraphs are sequenced so things are easier to read.
The response, according to the folks at Colibri, has been overwhelming.
“We’ve seen our students getting further, faster through the new content,” explains Robinson.
Jennifer Dixson Hoff, Colibri’s general manager, professional portfolio and partnerships, notes that the company offers a white-glove service approach. Not only does this ensure that brokers can keep track of the students they referred, but it also guarantees that students are getting a high-level experience.
“Our dashboard allows students to really understand how they’re doing in the program, where they are in the program, whether it’s continuing education or qualifying education,” says Dixson Hoff. “We’ve made a huge commitment to continuous improvement to the experience, and it’s really paying off.
“Brokers come to Colibri Real Estate because they know we will take care of their students. It’s not about starting the program, but finishing it and getting ready to start in the profession.”
In some cases, if brokers ask, Colibri will even prepare additional cram courses and tutoring sessions. “We were recently working with an organization that had one student who didn’t pass their exam, otherwise we had a 100% pass rate with their students,” says Dixson Hoff. “We arranged a tutoring session for two hours between her and an instructor, and the next time she took the exam, she passed.”
“We’re always looking to up-level the experience,” she continues. “For instance, when you become a member of the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, there are a number of member benefits you receive, and we’re looking at replacing and/or launching new options for our members all the time to ensure we are giving them tools to help them be more successful in their career.”
Top-flight instructors
In pursuit of becoming the world’s most admired professional learning company, Colibri recognizes that instructors are at the forefront of this endeavor.
According to Gina Pendano, director of Instructional Operations, the company is deeply committed to elevating its instructor team. This encompasses substantial recruitment efforts, strategic realignment and adaptation to evolving dynamics, particularly in response to the heightened demand for asynchronous education. The central focus remains on fostering excellence and adapting to the transforming educational landscape.
“We’ve undergone significant expansion, hiring a multitude of instructors to facilitate our livestream initiatives,” Pendano states. “Over the past year, we’ve concentrated on cultivating our new instructional talent and elevating the skills of our tenured instructors. We want Colibri instructors to be the benchmark for real estate education, and we want our students to have an unparalleled learning experience.”
Pendano acknowledges the growing preference for livestream learning, emphasizing Colibri’s strategic focus on setting itself apart from competitors and enhancing instructor delivery and engagement. The company is keen on not only meeting, but exceeding, the expectations of learners in the ever-evolving landscape of professional education.
Looking ahead
Over the next year or two, Colibri plans to continue helping its students prepare for success in their real estate careers.
“We’re building in a facet of the program that explains to them exactly how to take a state exam,” says Robinson. “While we allow them to qualify to take the state exam, we’re shifting the paradigm a little to help them teach not just the topics required by the state, but also teach them how to take tests. We want to make sure they’re fully prepared and confident.”
Robinson adds that the company’s ultimate goal is to blur the line between synchronous education and asynchronous education.
“For all of our programs, we’ve baselined our curriculum—or are in the process of doing so—so students who have an instructor-led program and those in the asynchronous program follow the exact same track and are learning the exact same lesson,” says Robinson. “As we get states who unlock their willingness to support a hybrid approach, we can allow students to switch back and forth.”
Colibri also offers an annual real estate salary guide to share insights on agent satisfaction and tips on how to increase new-agent earning potential, among other topics.
For more information, please visit https://www.colibrirealestate.com.
