PADI eBusiness - Atomic Online - 800 Pound Gorilla in the Room

[boulderjohn]

Thanks for the clarification. I agree that the will be a GREAT DEAL for PADI, I don't know about the rest of your conclusions. It's like the old "what's good for General Motors must be good for America" ... WRONG. What's good for PADI must be good for diving ... WRONG.

How is it different from an assumption that anything PADI does must be bad for diving?

 

[Drewski]

Third, e-Learning is still just a souped up delivery of training materials. There will be no instructor from India, no "several hundred PADI dive instructors in cubicles", nothing like that. The customer doesn't need any help reading the materials online and taking the quizzies, not any more than they need help reading the textbook. If help is needed, who will Jane Doe call? The LOCAL DIVE CENTER she was forced to choose when she purchased the program. Plain and simple.

Let's not make this something its not. This is a GREAT DEAL (in my opinion) for PADI, the local dive center, the industry, and the student. Phil Ellis

Hi Phil:

I'm sure responses in this thread took you by surprise, some of them were "interesting."

Having just returned to diving after a long absence, I was rather shocked to find that much of the academic instruction in diving is now "home study." I went through an SSI OW course with my two nieces earlier this fall and experienced the "new" approach. In my opinion, it was "lacking" but still worked.

I think what some are missing in this thread (and maybe what others are trying to say) is that if PADI starts this approach, how will it affect instruction? Will other agencies "react" to stay competitive and maybe do things more loosely? Will market forces drive things in directions not intended? Will dive shops franchise and go national to compete?

I can tell you this IS happening with universities. At one time, only a few "correspondence schools" existed. Now, some universities use "virtual classrooms" that reach all over the globe. This changes the nature of competition for new college students forcing smaller, less funded schools to change as well if they want to keep their current enrollment and standards for admission.

Sometimes it’s the things we DON'T see rather than the things we DO.

Just my thoughts...

 

[Azza]

Wow, the exploding thread.............

I just read through all of the posts since I was last on. I think MANY people are jumping way beyond what PADI might develop, and as a result adding confusion to a very clear subject.

Sorry Phil. We are an excitable bunch

First, there will be nobody from PADI "teaching" the on-line courses. Remember, YOU CANNOT TEACH SCUBA ONLINE! When a person surfs over to the PADI website with some interest in scuba diving, PADI will give them a chance to "Start Now" by clicking a button. That person will then put a "product" (the online academic materials) in their shopping cart. During the checkout process, they will be presented with an opportunity to choose a local dive center for their training. I don't know how this will be presented to them, but choosing a dive center goes hand in hand with being able to sign up for the online academic training. PADI will immediately notify the dive center that Jane Doe has signed up for a class and the dive center will be provided with all of the contact information for Jane Doe. The PADI website will also clearly inform Jane Doe that she needs to contact the dive center. From that very point, the dive center and Jane Doe begin a relationship, just like it happens now if Jane Doe walks into the dive center. The big difference..........Jane Doe signs up for a class NOW!....while she has enough interest in it to be surfing the web looking for "dive training". Under the old model, if Jane Doe was sitting at home thinking about going over to the local scuba store on her next day off to talk about dive training, she could be easily distracted by a billboard advertising Sky Diving lessons, by an ad for Paint Ball, or many other activities. In short, she may be distracted before she ever gets over to the dive store. With the PADI program, she will sign up on "impulse", with little chance that she is "lost" to other pursuits.

Third, e-Learning is still just a souped up delivery of training materials. There will be no instructor from India, no "several hundred PADI dive instructors in cubicles", nothing like that. The customer doesn't need any help reading the materials online and taking the quizzies, not any more than they need help reading the textbook. If help is needed, who will Jane Doe call? The LOCAL DIVE CENTER she was forced to choose when she purchased the program. Plain and simple.

Ok so will the student will receive a Username and Password, log onto a specific e-learning section of the PADI website and proceed to read an online manual, fill in knowledge reviews and do exams online, which are then sent to the dive center?
So basically instead of coming into the shop, picking up a manual, and going home and reading the manual and filling out the knowledge reviews, then turning up for class, she does the reading and knowledge reviews and exams online but still turns up for some shorter classes? Or will we just do away with the academic classes altogether?

Let's not make this something its not. This is a GREAT DEAL (in my opinion) for PADI, the local dive center, the industry, and the student.

Might be ok for PADI and the dive centers. Not so flash for the student if he/she picks a crap dive center with a crap instructor. The problem with not being able to meet your instructor before you sign up and pay is that you don’t know what you are getting. At least a face to face meeting with an instructor gives the student the potential to interview him/her first.
Not so good for us indy instructors either but hey thems the breaks

 

[Azza]

Will dive shops franchise and go national to compete?

Its already happening here in New Zealand. We have a huge chain with around 15-20 stores. Their quality never used to be any good and they spent a lot of time churning out zero to hero 100 dive wonder instructors in a 12 week timeframe... but they may have improved.

 

[RonFrank]

Might be ok for PADI and the dive centers. Not so flash for the student if he/she picks a crap dive center with a crap instructor. The problem with not being able to meet your instructor before you sign up and pay is that you don’t know what you are getting. At least a face to face meeting with an instructor gives the student the potential to interview him/her first.
Not so good for us indy instructors either but hey thems the breaks

I think that the misconception here maybe that potential OW students do a lot of homework before picking an LDS. Some do, but the majority, no way. :shakehead

They generally get referred by a buddy who's brother used LDS X in 1972, and blablabla. They walk in the door, and don't have a clue about what is involved or how much time it takes, much less how to judge an instructor.

In our area the instructors are NOT going to be there unless you go on a weekend or evening, and then they are busy instructing! So the potential students are not meeting the instructors in any event.

I think the other thing people fail to realize is that a LOT of divers just want to get certified so they can dive, and have zero idea about the quality instruction they are getting.

It's rather premature to judge how this new online program is going to work. For example can the student read instructor Bio's online, Shop information whatever? Do they pay BEFORE picking an LDS? What if the LDS is booked solid, or they hate the instructor, can they change shops?

If I could only see the future!

 

[Azza]

I think the other thing people fail to realize is that a LOT of divers just want to get certified so they can dive, and have zero idea about the quality instruction they are getting.

I agree

 

[Thalassamania]

How is it different from an assumption that anything PADI does must be bad for diving?

I don't know, that's not what I said, you tell us.

 

[pterantula]

I think that the misconception here maybe that potential OW students do a lot of homework before picking an LDS. Some do, but the majority, no way. :shakehead

They generally get referred by a buddy who's brother used LDS X in 1972, and blablabla. They walk in the door, and don't have a clue about what is involved or how much time it takes, much less how to judge an instructor.

Jeez... who does??? I have one friend who dives, who was certified by his parents 25 years ago (they took him diving when he was like 8 or something, using alot of old, sometimes homemade gear).

I picked my LDS because it was closest to me, allowing me to get to the classes. End of story. How the hell do I know what I should look for, when there should (should...) be a basic standard of instruction for certification purposes, in ANY industry? Online academics will only enhance the field.

In our area the instructors are NOT going to be there unless you go on a weekend or evening, and then they are busy instructing! So the potential students are not meeting the instructors in any event.

... and in my case, they didn't even know which of their staff was teaching my particular weekends, where I had one guy for the pool and classroom and another guy for the checkouts. In my experience, this is something to be expected in a training environment across counties (the shop is in SF, but the dives are all Monterey).

I think the other thing people fail to realize is that a LOT of divers just want to get certified so they can dive, and have zero idea about the quality instruction they are getting.

Again: jeez, who does??? How can you tell if your instruction is poor until after you're exposed to the environment? In any field? How many new divers have any experience with diving? Before your own first certification dive, exactly how many dives in how many different conditions had you personally experienced?
(Why would this suddenly be of more concern with discussion of online academics when it's certainly not resolved with traditional training? I know it's not really, but the tone of this thread certainly belies that...)

 

[boulderjohn]

I don't know, that's not what I said, you tell us.

Are you honestly saying that the underlying message in your entire work in this thread has not been that every thing PADI does is always wrong? If so, then I need to readjust my reading skills.

 

[Azza]

If so, then I need to readjust my reading skills.

May I suggest doing so via e-learning?