Before answering whether to learn Revit online or in person, one distinction has to be made, because nearly every argument about online learning starts by confusing two different things.
An online class at the Institute is a class with a real instructor teaching at fixed hours over Microsoft Teams or Zoom. Students run the software on their own machine, work along with the instructor, upload their file and have it corrected during the session.
That is a different product from pre-recorded video of the Udemy kind, where you buy a set of finished lectures and watch them alone. In that arrangement nobody sees you make a mistake.
When people ask whether online learning works, they are usually asking about the recorded kind. This article compares all three, says which software transfers well to a live online class, and is honest about where the Institute's online classes lose to the in-person ones.
Three formats, not one
The biggest difference between the columns comes down to two questions. Does anyone see your mistakes, and does anyone answer when you ask?
An in-person class answers yes to both, immediately. A live online class also answers yes, a little slower, because you have to share your screen or send the file. Pre-recorded video answers no to both.
For construction software those two questions decide everything. A badly built model rarely reports an error. It still displays, still rotates, and only reveals itself when quantities are scheduled or when it is federated with another discipline. Someone working alone through video has very little chance of catching that.
By software: what transfers well to an online class
After years of running both formats for the same courses, the Institute's lecturers arrived at one simple rule.
The heavier a piece of software is on screen technique, the more it gains from a room. The heavier it is on professional judgement, the less an online class costs you, because the difficulty sits in understanding rather than in clicking.
| Group | Courses | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Mostly professional judgement | Cost estimating, final accounts, quantity surveying, MS Project | Online is equal to the classroom |
| Process and management | BIM Manager, infrastructure BIM Manager, BEP and CDE | Online, arguably better suited |
| Reading drawings | Construction drawing reading | Online works well; a drawing on screen beats a printed sheet |
| Mostly screen technique | First Revit course, ETABS, Tekla, Civil 3D | In person if you are nearby; online if you have the background or live far away |
| Either is fine | AutoCAD, SketchUp, Photoshop | Whatever fits your schedule |
That is also why BIM Manager and the infrastructure BIM Manager course run online only. The content is process, documents and how information is organised, and most students are working engineers spread across the country. Putting that class in one room would not improve it.
For Revit specifically, the answer runs like this. A complete beginner should take the foundation stage in person. Someone who can already build a basic model gains a great deal from taking later stages online. A Revit learning path for beginners splits the journey into three stages along exactly those lines.
By person, not only by software
Two people in the same online class can end up with very different results.
Someone already working, with a real drawing set to apply it to that week, usually does well online. They ask the questions that matter, because they are genuinely stuck on something.
Someone with nothing real to apply it to needs the room more, because the rhythm of a class and the presence of others keeps them going. Studying online with nothing to do between sessions is the surest way to drift off.
This is worth assessing honestly before choosing, rather than choosing on price or convenience.
Making an online class work
The five habits below are what the Institute's most successful online students have in common.
Two screens, or one large one. The instructor on one side, your software on the other. Working on a small screen and switching back and forth is a reliable way to fall behind.
Work during the session, not afterwards. When the instructor does something, do it too, and ask about whatever goes wrong there and then. Saving it all for the recording turns a live class into a video course.
Share your screen and send your file. An instructor can only correct what they can see. Being reluctant to share your screen throws away the most valuable part of a live class.
Have real work to apply it to. A drawing set from the office, your own coursework, even an old project. Knowledge with nothing attached to it fades quickly.
Set the machine up before the first session. Software, microphone, screen sharing. Losing half an hour of session one to installation costs a noticeable share of the course.
What an online class at the Institute includes
Stated plainly, so it can be compared with other options.
A real instructor teaching at fixed hours over Microsoft Teams or Zoom. The class has a timetable like any other. Students and instructor are in the room together, working at the same time.
Correction on each student's own file. Exercises are submitted, and the instructor opens the model or the cost file and corrects it directly.
A recording of each session to review the steps, though the recording is a supplement, not the main way to learn.
The same syllabus, the same sample project and the same certificate as the in-person class. The certificate is issued by the Institute of Information Technology in Civil Engineering – Hanoi University of Civil Engineering.
One policy difference is worth knowing before you enrol. In-person courses may be deferred for up to one year from the date the centre confirms it. Online courses carry no deferral as a rule; in exceptional cases a student who has completed less than half the course may be granted a deferral of up to one year.
Where the online class loses
This part is stated plainly, because choosing the wrong format costs both money and time.
For Revit, ETABS and Tekla with complete beginners, an online instructor catches technique errors later. In a room, an instructor walking past sees you snapping to the wrong point. Online they have to wait for you to share your screen or send the file, and many people are reluctant to do that.
Beginners also lose the rhythm more easily online. With nobody sitting beside you, opening another window is very easy.
So for those three courses the Institute recommends attending in person if you are in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, and choosing online when you live far away, are short of time, or already have the background.
For construction cost estimating, MS Project, drawing reading and the BIM management courses, the online class produces results equal to the classroom. When comparing providers, ask the questions that apply to either format: who actually teaches, how large the class is, whether every exercise is corrected individually, and what support continues afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
Does online cost estimating training actually work?
Yes, equal to the classroom, provided it is a live class with exercises on real documents and each one corrected. Estimating is done on a computer, and files travel both ways perfectly well.
Can BIM be learned online?
The management side works very well online: BIM Manager, execution plans and common data environments. The modelling side is better in person if you are starting out.
Are the Institute's online classes pre-recorded?
No. They are taught live at fixed hours over Microsoft Teams or Zoom, with corrections made on the student's own file. The session recording is an extra.
Is the certificate different for online students?
No. The same certificate from the Institute of Information Technology in Civil Engineering – Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, on the same completion terms.
I live far from Hanoi and want to learn Revit. What now?
Take the live online class, set up two screens, and share your screen whenever you work on an exercise. What you have to supply yourself is the discipline the room would otherwise give you.