You should spend weeks reading the information here, and after doing so, you'll realize that you've gotten a pretty good education from thousands of instructors for nothing!

I took on two young "mentees" to handle much of the workload and because I love teaching (flight instructor for 30 years). 

I found that the in-class experience was better because it allowed me to develop a network with other potential agents, the instructors who were either agents or brokers, and agents taking classes so that they could sit for the broker exam.

I'm not a fan of sitting in a classroom and listening to an instructor read the book to me, never went to class in college either.  

The instructor is an investor and he gives a lot of content and direction but it lacks the Peaks Energy and they do promote the inner circle with mentoring and coaching along with more trainings and inside buyers groups.

I'm really nervous about not having that interaction with the instructor.

Bill's a great instructor. 

I did, and I worked as a staff trainer, instructor, competitor, and performer until a torn ligament in my ankle sidelined me.  

An appraiser/re instructor?

I would do a search of BiggerPockets for that particular instructor's name to see what other people say.You can learn everything you need to know, right here on BiggerPockets.