The actual driving portion of driver’s education courses remains offline, for obvious reasons.

One of America’s most enduring but least celebrated institutions of “higher” learning is the driving school. Affectionately referred to by ennui-filled teenagers as “driver’s ed,” the educational experience generally consists of dozens of hours of lectures and a couple behind the wheel lessons with a chain-smoking instructor. It is no surprise then that the entrepreneurs at DriversEd.com have taken this cherished institution into cyber-space, and have even received DMV accreditation in several states.

Nevertheless, the internet provides no substitute for actual driving, and a DriversEd.com diploma does not excuse you from having to take the driving portion in the flesh (Gran Turismo high scorers are not exempted—sorry). All joking aside, however, it’s not surprising that an online driving school is successful—as with many other tedious training programs, it is course material primed for the information superhighway. We expect to see many more government training programs that had previously been reserved for musty classrooms on Saturday mornings move to online formats.

Tags: Non-Traditional Students, Online Education