E-learning + 2 days

[deepblueme]

I could teach you everything you need to know to start learning to dive in just a couple hours and did many times.

It's called a Resort Course "Did you have fun on this 30ft dive with me?,"Yes" Then sign up and take more classes."

Back in the day when you got you gear at Sears or Western Auto the lesson was
"Look thru this, breathe with this, when it gets had to breath come to the surface slower than your smallest bubbles".

My uncle learned this way and laughed when I told him about all I had to learn for my first class.
No SPG, no j-valve, no BC, no Octo, no computer, just him and his roommate.

Get over how long the first classes are and tell your friends to get better diving by DIVING either with others,clubs or more classes.

 

[jbd]

Back in the day when you got you gear at Sears or Western Auto the lesson was
"Look thru this, breathe with this, when it gets had to breath come to the surface slower than your smallest bubbles".

My uncle learned this way and laughed when I told him about all I had to learn for my first class.
No SPG, no j-valve, no BC, no Octo, no computer, just him and his roommate.

If this method worked so well, how did we end up with the system we have now with the plethora of dive agencies all of who claim to be the absolute best when it comes to teaching people to dive. Seems like it would be so much simpler to go back to doing it the way your uncle did. But there had to be a reason Al Tilman and Bev Morgan and a few others set up training programs way back when.

 

[Thalassamania]

I could teach you everything you need to know to start learning to dive in just a couple hours and did many times.

It's called a Resort Course "Did you have fun on this 30ft dive with me?,"Yes" Then sign up and take more classes."

Back in the day when you got you gear at Sears or Western Auto the lesson was
"Look thru this, breathe with this, when it gets had to breath come to the surface slower than your smallest bubbles".

My uncle learned this way and laughed when I told him about all I had to learn for my first class.
No SPG, no j-valve, no BC, no Octo, no computer, just him and his roommate.

Get over how long the first classes are and tell your friends to get better diving by DIVING either with others,clubs or more classes.

The difference was the "students" who learned that way. They were water people, beach lifeguards, surfers, sailboat racers, ocean swimmers, free divers. Real, real, real comfortable in the water. They were not the folks who worried about a 300 yd swim or a 10 minute tread or a little water up their nose. But just look at the board, that's not whose being recruited into these classes ... it's the average Dick and Jane who can barely swim, is in miserable shape and can't cope with water in their eyes or nose ... e-learning + 2 days is not the way to get them to be comfortable divers.

 

[jbd]

My husband is an instructor and the OW classes go like this:
9am-4pm Saturday classroom, 6-9pm pool
9am-finished Sunday classroom, 6-9pm pool

For me a schedule like that would be a violation of standards in a couple of ways.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

YMCA would not allow it as well. We usually do 7 academic sessions, 6 or 7 pool sessions of at least 2 hours each. Usually throw in an extra a day or 2 before checkouts, then check out dives over two days be it a weekend or two saturdays. Prefer the latter as we'll make the second saturday a weekend and get em in for a couple extra dives. So our avg OW diver gets 6-7 dives for certification. And YMCA requires 300 yd swim to complete the course along with the tread and tows. We have sent back people to get some swimming instruction as the Y requires they do 200 yds just to begin scuba training.

 

[SeaHound]

I have very mixed feelings about the new "online" classes. Having worked at an LDS for awhile, I did learn that many people don't get certified because they can't get 2 weekends off in a row, or they have childcare issues, etc. So in a way, this method helps those people who can sit at home, any hour of the day or night, and log onto their computer and do the classroom part. Some people are just better at computers than they are in a classroom setting too.
On the other hand, I think it gives some people the impression that scuba certification is no big deal, you can even do it online. So i don't like that.
My husband is an instructor, so having seen his classroom teaching methods as an observer and experienced diver, I would want to be in his class as he gives so much information NOT in the book. He discusses much of his own personal experience and things he has learned as a diver. He knows how to get people fired up and excited about diving. You can't get that online either.

Just my 2 cents.

robin

Your two cents are worth a million here. I totally agree with you on seceral aspects. Diving isnt about owning a card and showing it to your freinds. It is about the EXPERIENCE!!! A good instructor is as much part of the experience as getting in the water. Diving enables us to expand our social circle, make friends with people etc. Online cant give that.

I say if you want to learn to dive then do it the long way, the fun way. MY 2 cents

 

[InkDiver]

I did a 2 day OW class back in November. We were mailed the manual, DVD, tables and eRDP before the course and had to do knowledge reviews before we attended. Saturday morning, we did a quiz for each chapter. After the review, we were given the written test, we scored it together and discussed the missed questions.

We then did pool work (which was actually in a shallow spring). There was also one open water dive in the pm

On Sunday, we went out on the boat and finished our OW dives.

Did I feel confident after the class? Not sure about that. I knew I wanted to learn more, and I have. I have been diving at least one day of every weekend since. Most weekends, I dive both Sat and Sun. I try to dive a variety of conditions, reef, wreck, cavern, springs, fresh, salt. I have also done my Nitrox, AOW, Wreck and Cavern certs. I completed the classroom work for Rescue Diver this evening, and will be doing the practial work this weekend. I'm scheduled to begin Intro to Cave in April. I've got 50 dives under my belt since November, absolutely nothing compared to many many divers. Am I an expert? no way! Did the OW class get me hooked on diving and get me to pursue other training? ABSOLUTELY!! Would I have liked it if I had a longer OW class? Sure, but I didn't.

Quick story. A few weeks ago, I was diving off a boat and was hooked up with an insta-buddy. We talked about the dive plan, and our experience. I had been diving for 3 months, he had been diving for 3 years. We talked about my OW class, and he said, "Oh, you did one of those quickie classes, I don't think those are any good" Then he says "don't worry, I'll take it easy on you". We jump off the boat and drop....well actually, I drop and he starts, then begins floating to the surface fairly fast, then he starts sinking again. So I wait for him to get control and come down and join me. We swim along the reef, and for the entire dive, he is squeezing his nose and blowing. I mean the ENTIRE dive. I keep asking if he is OK, and if he is having ear problems, he keeps signalling OK. 5 or 6 times in 45 minutes, he starts to float up and seems to lose control. Just as I'm getting ready to grab his fin to slow him down, he starts coming back down again. While we're on the reef, I'm doing a nice easy frog kick, with the surge. Surge moves forward, I kick, surge moves back, I hover. He is kicking fast and furious the whole time, but not making lots of headway. Then about halfway through the dive, I look over and he is literally sitting on the reef!!!!!! So I suggest we rise up a bit....poor reef can't defend itself.

We finally get back on the boat and he can barely talk, he is so winded. Then he says "not bad, you'll get better with practice". We go to sign eachother's log books. Him = 27 dives in 3 years. Me = 43 dives in 12 weeks.

Just because someone does a 'quicke' OW class, doesn't mean they are not diving regularly after that, possibly with experienced divers (I have been). It also doesn't mean that they are not seeking further training and experience to improve. I relish the opportunity to learn from experienced instructors. I've been lucky and all my instructors have been amazing. I'll likely be taking regular training in all aspects of diving for as long as I dive.

Are the 2 day classes for everyone? Probably not, but if not for that class, I would not have had some of the most amazing experiences of my life in the past 3 1/2 months.

 

[Stu S.]

In 1977, the certification process took us about 10 weeks. Once a week we were in the classroom, the other session was in the water. By the time we got going, reviewed the previous week's topic, saw a video, and heard the instructor, we probably got an hour and a half's worth of training out of a "two and a half hour" class.

The "diving" part involved unloading a van, setting up gear, changing clothes, and getting perhaps an hour of instruction, before we had to pack everything back up. That was also a two and a half hour session.

So in ten weeks, we probably got 10-15 hours of classroom training and 10 in the water. It worked, but was not an efficient use of time.

My daughter took PADI E-learning in 2005. It appeared to be the same amount of information as years earlier, without all the "let's get started" time. Her diving was in four hour sessions, on four consecutive days (then a test day). There was less time wasted toting tanks around.

With a great instructor, the kid did real well. The format of the training, and the schedule it was on resulted in doing in days what once took weeks.

One could say that my training was 10 times "longer" than hers, but it was not 10 times more training. I suppose a person should look at how much training is presented, rather than the number of days required to do it.

 

[mrlipis]

Time to chime,

I took the e-learning course from Padi. First off it was convenient for me as I did it at my own pace and at home. I would say that it took me a total of 10 hours to complete. There were lots of quiz's and tests at the end of each section. If you missed a question you could not move forward, it made you go back and re-read the material. IMO, this is a very effective learning technique, lot's of repetition. When I showed up at the LDS, I was 100% confident in my knowledge and I was given a test, which I aced.

With that said, I still had to do the pool work and open water dives and the e-learning was a great way to go. I would point out however, the cost of the e-learning does not get deducted by the LDS and I was a little pissed at PADI, as the advertising and communication between them and the LDS was nonexistent. In the end, you are going to pay an additional $120.00 for the convenience of doing the book work at home. You may not have to pay for the additional book materials at the LDS ($69) but you will still need a log book and dive table as they are included in those materials.

One last point, my wife just got certified and she did not catch on as fast as I did. Because she was not certified, she could not practice skills in the pool without an instructor. She did her 4 open water dives last weekend and got her C-card but NOOO way is she ready for a trip to the caribbean. She needs time in the pool working on buoyancy and other skills. I think there should be a temporary certification so divers can go in a pool by themselves and practice. Upon completion of an additional 4-6 hours of pool time they can get their permanent C-card. I guarantee our reefs would appreciate this. I probably spent that much time in the pool prior to my first trip and really benefited by it. My buoyancy was rock solid my first trip to a reef.

Bruce

 

[Zoomer]

To be honest, I don't know why there is such a viseral reaction to e-learning. It is NOTHING more than a different way to deliver home study material. To my knowledge, PADI has NEVER avocated using e-learning as a way to skip instructor interaction on academic issues. We treat our e-learning students exactly as we treat our traditional book and dvd learners.

Phil Ellis

I have agree with Phil here. I did an online course two years ago and got a certificate to take to a dive shop and continue my learning. I elected NOT to. I than took the traditional 4 day (2 weekend) course. I picked up my materials a month in advance and studied (I went through the book three times and watched the DVD twice) and had all my knowledge reviews done before class. Now I know I could have done an e-learn course without an issue, however there where a few in my class that were unprepared and could not understand the material enough to take a final and pass if they had done the e-learning. Bottom line, in my experience, some students can do the e-learning course without an issue (along with pool and OW instruction of course) and others I believe would just not understand the concepts without an instructor there to explain.

By the way I aced the final

Just my H2O

I must say I do have one pet peeve with PADI's OW class. The eRDP, yes it's nice, yes it's convenient, yes it simplifies the RDP tables.... However I would bet 90% of the students (me being the only one) that could figure out a multiple dive plan without it. I think they should teach the tables FIRST and than the eRDP.... I took the Nitrox course and you MUST know the tables in order to do it.

End of rant