New online certification courses - Good or bad?

[beasleym]

I've been diving in Kauai for two weeks now and this is the first time I've dove with folks that have gone through the new training programs. To put it bluntly - I'm a bit concerned.

While doing a boat dive in the afternoon to do a weight check and get comfortable in my warm water gear I was on board with several people who had just been certified. The key thing I noticed was a lack of budding-up and equipment checks. The result: one person went off the boat with his tank off, one almost went off without fins on, another ended up on the bottom with a dead computer. Then experience showed and one person planted a tank squarely on the deck while doing a giant stride and another had bad problems equalizing. We've all seen or done similar things, but this was on one dive!

When I started there was no certification and these kinds of problems were common. After my kids were grown I went back to diving and was certified and now dive cold water with a drysuit and have separate warm water travel gear. Great training and very thorough and in a tough environment. While here I met up with Shep Akins (shepakins) on his 6th dive. His instructor was very thorough and my dives with him were like diving with old timers - he knew about safety checks and being a conscientious buddy.

I also dove with an instructor from Sacramento, CA and asked him about the new certification. His take was he didn't like the situation and that he didn't get time to form an opinion and work with people and that the certification was being diluted. The look on his face was very telling.

I don't want to start a big, emotional discussion here. And I would prefer that we don't get into the pros and cons of certification - that's been beat to death. I'm seriously concerned that one of the key measures of others that we may dive with is being compromised in the name of expediency and greed. I also know why certification was started, don't want to see a bunch of accidents, and don't want the government stepping in if the accident rate climbs.

I would love to hear some feedback and experience from others. I would also love to hear from instructors and divemasters about the training and dealing with new divers first hand.

 

[vladimir]

I've been diving in Kauai for two weeks now and this is the first time I've dove with folks that have gone through the new training programs. To put it bluntly - I'm a bit concerned.

While doing a boat dive in the afternoon to do a weight check and get comfortable in my warm water gear I was on board with several people who had just been certified. The key thing I noticed was a lack of budding-up and equipment checks. The result: one person went off the boat with his tank off, one almost went off without fins on, another ended up on the bottom with a dead computer. Then experience showed and one person planted a tank squarely on the deck while doing a giant stride and another had bad problems equalizing. We've all seen or done similar things, but this was on one dive!

As you correctly note, the mistakes you saw are not that unusual, for the most part, among divers certified the old-fashioned way. I've done all of them myself, except for the tank-on-the-deck maneuver while giant striding--that one's a little bit out of the ordinary.

I'm seriously concerned that one of the key measures of others that we may dive with is being compromised in the name of expediency and greed.

Unprecedented.

 

[oreocookie]

Just a thought: were all these people certified by the same instructor or shop? Maybe it's the instructor who signed off on their skills that was lacking, not the training program itself.

 

[SurferRyan]

I'm sure that the online classes cannot be nearly as effective as sitting in a real class. I took a few online classes in college...ha ha....had some great times in those classes!

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Trying to relate the quality of the instruction to the medium used (online vs class lecture) is difficult. Both mediums can be used effectively if all parties cooperate. The key I see if if the student wants to slide by, it is easier to do so in the on-line environment. Then they start diving and the short-cuts come to the surface (pun intended). A good instructor can spot the slacker and address the situation (and even fail them if it is warranted). This tends the enhance the quality of the new divers. The problem is good instructors willing to do so are in short supply since this affects their bottom line which is pretty lean to start with.

 

[*dave*]

It's not like you go online and print yourself a card after a twenty minute quiz. At least, it shouldn't be.

In concept, I'm all for it. The more informed my students are when they show up, the faster I can get them to the point they need to be for certification. If they demonstrate a solid understanding of tables, I'm not going to waste either of our time going back over them. I will introduce a few things related to the tables which the material doesn't, but I don't believe the SSI mantra "Comfort through repetition" applies to the academics.

In my case, doing the online work will give you the same edge that bearing down on the materials presented in the book and DVD would provide. You'll get the same presentations, discussions and pool sessions as those who walk into the store and buy the materials. It might be a better format for some to grok and that's great.

I'm sure the quality of diver having gone through the e-learning program is a direct reflection of the shop and instructor having certified them.

 

[TMHeimer]

Before there was e-learning I took a bunch of courses. I recall that some classmates were even overly prepared before walking into the classroom while others may not have even browsed through the book. I assume you have to pass a test online before meeting the Instructor, so I would assume most would have a decent knowledge of the material by then. On the other hand, it would seem there is a lot less teacher-student contact before the diving begins. Not sure which would be the better choice.

 

[endurodog]

The online learning is just for the "book" portion and the students still go through the confined water/open water sessions. The problems your relating sound like they are related to confined water and open water learning. I would also be interested in if they all had the same instructor for that portion of their training.

 

[Peter Guy]

My experience is that students who have done the online academics are just as well prepared (if perhaps not better than) students who do their "academics" in the standard class setting.

Of course, the things YOU describe have NOTHING TO DO with online programs but, instead, with the confined water work -- and THAT is an instructor, not agency, issue. At least that's my take.

 

[Fdge]

For many 'young' people (not trying to offend anyone haha) e-learning is just a part of how they learn. You go to school with your laptop, go over some classes you've missed online, go over them when studying online. We don't use books for every class any more, most of the articles you have to read are online.
Add some quicktests inbetween, repetition questions and a quiz (basically all the things you have to do with the book plus dvd), nothing new.
If you want to slack, you can do it with a book and you can do it online, that's an attitude, not the chosen form of learning materials fault.
If you want to slack, you shouldn't be doing a diving course anyway.