PADI versus TDI and "E-learning"

[Hawkwood]

....E learning is for convenience only. It was never intended to lower the cost to the student. In fact there are times it can as much as double it depending on the course...

Exactly! They still have to pay for pool sessions and some "face time" with an instructor. As Jim said, they are designed for the convenience of the student.

 

[boulderjohn]

Anyway I'm getting off on a tagent here. What I really wanted to know is the benefit and drawback of doing some TDI courses (they do have elearnign: https://www.tdisdi.com/userportal/online_training/index.php?course=TDI) if I already have basic PADI certification? How widely recognized is TDI? Will PADI dive centers recognize it? If I have TDI certifications and I later want to do more advanced PADI stuff will they recognize those certifications or would I have to repeat the courses again as if I were a beginner?

I think you have a basic misunderstanding reflected here, and an explanation may clear things up. Regular PADI courses are a recreational diving program, which can then be followed by a more advanced technical diving program. TDI is a more advanced technical diving program. It is roughly like going from high school to college. When you ask if PADI will recognize the TDI courses when you go for more advanced PADI training, it is like asking if your local high school will accept your college degree when you go in for more advanced high school classes.

I teach PADI courses, and I teach TDI courses. When students have completed all the regular PADI level courses, they will be eligible to go on to the TDI courses. TDI courses begin where the regular PADI courses end.

PADI does have a program equivalent to TDI, so a student who competes the regular PADI program can go on to the PADI tech program.

SDI is the TDI equivalent of PADI's regular program. The normal progress is complete basic SDI training and then take TDI training.

I think that what you really want to know is if the PADI and SDI programs are similar and equally recognized. You want to know if you can move back and forth between those agencies. Yes, they are. Both PADI and SDI are members of the WRSTC, so they have very similar standards. SDI is well recognized. You can cross over from one to the other.

 

[Brian42]

Thanks for the wealth of info guys, exactly what I wanted to know.

---------- Post Merged at 09:19 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:14 PM ----------

Exactly! They still have to pay for pool sessions and some "face time" with an instructor. As Jim said, they are designed for the convenience of the student.

I still feel like you guys are missing my point and the Nitrox e-learning course I just took is an excellent example. The nitrox course took me just a couple of hours to complete in one evening. If I didn't have to go through slides but learned it from a book it's something I easily could have learned in one hour to the standard that they test it for. This course cost $205(!) PLUS $40 for the instructor portion which is only 15-30 minutes. The all live course was $175 and a half day program. I just didn't have the time at the dive location to do it otherwise of course I would do the live course instead even if it was the same point. My point is that the elearning courses are just a terrible value and they're price gouging people who want convenience. 3 hours of elearning is not an equivalent value to 3 hours of hands on learning with an instructor and neither is the cost to provide equivalent. I understand PADI is in business to make money but I feel like especially the nitrox course is absurdly priced. That said I still did it because I didn't see any other good options.

---------- Post Merged at 09:24 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:14 PM ----------

I think you have a basic misunderstanding reflected here, and an explanation may clear things up. Regular PADI courses are a recreational diving program, which can then be followed by a more advanced technical diving program. TDI is a more advanced technical diving program. It is roughly like going from high school to college. When you ask if PADI will recognize the TDI courses when you go for more advanced PADI training, it is like asking if your local high school will accept your college degree when you go in for more advanced high school classes.

I teach PADI courses, and I teach TDI courses. When students have completed all the regular PADI level courses, they will be eligible to go on to the TDI courses. TDI courses begin where the regular PADI courses end.

PADI does have a program equivalent to TDI, so a student who competes the regular PADI program can go on to the PADI tech program.

SDI is the TDI equivalent of PADI's regular program. The normal progress is complete basic SDI training and then take TDI training.

I think that what you really want to know is if the PADI and SDI programs are similar and equally recognized. You want to know if you can move back and forth between those agencies. Yes, they are. Both PADI and SDI are members of the WRSTC, so they have very similar standards. SDI is well recognized. You can cross over from one to the other.

John, are you sure ALL the Ecourses they are offering require you to have done all the basic nontech PADI courses? The one listed here (https://www.tdisdi.com/userportal/online_training/index.php?course=TDI#) "NITROX DIVER" sounds more less very similar "Enriched Air Diver" course I just did for PADI which had "Open Water Diver" as the only prequisite I saw.

I'm thrilled to hear that you can swtich back and forth because it looks like TDI/SDI offers some stuff online that PADI does not and sometimes is more competitively priced (as in the Enriched Air / Nitrox course).

Thanks again for the info.

 

[Dave1w]

The TDI basic nitrox course, while the same resulting qualification as the PADI one, is a lot more in depth and aimed as a foundation to further Tech training, but they also have the SDI "Easy Nitrox"' which just covers all you need to know to dive nitrox up to 40%
Dave

 

[victorzamora]

The SDI "easy nitrox" sounds just like PADI's Enriched Air Diver course. However, Tec 40 DOES do more nitrox theory. Not saying PADI TecRec is the best program out there, but I've been pleased with the theory so far. Of course, that's mostly the way the instructor set up his class. To be fair, I'm in the process of finishing Tec40....so my experience is lacking for sure.