The Importance of Live Webinars for Continuing Professional Education

April 21, 2023

There are many format options for earning required Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits including in-person classes, on-demand courses, and live webinars. While each of these formats has its own benefits, the value of live webinars for earning CPE is sometimes underestimated. Here are four reasons why it’s important to include live webinars as a significant part of your continuing professional development.

1. Live webinars offer a clear time commitment.

Unlike on-demand courses, live webinars happen in real time, which means they have a clear starting and ending point. While this does mean you must be available at a specific time, it also means you know exactly how much time you’ll need to set aside to complete the session.

On-demand courses can only estimate how much time you’ll need to complete them, since everyone works at their own pace, but with a live webinar, you are watching the presentation and asking and answering questions within the allotted time, meaning you know exactly how much of a calendar commitment earning CPE for that webinar will take. This certainty can be a relief to busy professionals who are trying to juggle full to-do lists and crowded calendars.

2. Live webinars are able to offer more up-to-date information than pre-recorded sessions.

Because they happen in real time, live webinars have the ability to offer the most up-to-date information in their presentations. New professional studies and surveys debut regularly, and laws, policies, and professional requirements are constantly changing, which can render even recently-recorded content outdated. With live webinars, presenters have the opportunity to quickly incorporate new information and recommendations, which offers the greatest learning benefit to participants seeking to update their knowledge and skillsets.

3. Live webinars can incorporate current news events and timely examples.

Current events have the potential to instantly change how a topic is viewed or how it is applied in a professional situation. One of the greatest benefits of live webinars is the ability of the presenters to incorporate current events and other timely examples into their information. Live sessions also allow participants to ask questions about how current events relate to the presented topic.

4. Live webinars allow participants to give and receive feedback in real time.

The ability for instructors and participants to interact in real-time means live webinars offer both the interactive benefits of in-person sessions and the convenience of a virtual course. Live webinars may choose to designate a set time for questions and answers or to respond to questions or comments along the way. In either format, this synchronous interaction can enhance participant learning by quickly clearing up any confusion and addressing questions that may arise in a way that benefits all learners.

These aspects of live webinars make it easy to see the value they can bring to your continuing professional education. CPE Compare can help you find platforms that provide live webinars, as well as other CPE formats to best fit your needs.