E-Learning: the way forward or maybe not?

[gcbryan]

It seems to me the bottom line is if most dive shop classes offered a markedly better experience than eLearning then no one would choose eLearning. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

It's kind of like the situation where some dive shops complain about the internet while others embrace it. I wonder who's doing better, those that adapt or those that complain?

 

[Interceptor121]

I think that the e-learning option is mostly for people wishing to complete their training in a resort. I am sure that town centre LDS that really add value will always be a choice for part of the audience and have nothing to be concerned

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

It seems to me the bottom line is if most dive shop classes offered a markedly better experience than eLearning then no one would choose eLearning. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

And I think that's the key point. I don't think a computer can replace a truly inspirational instructor. But let's be honest, how many people are getting that? It seems most people on here agree that the current quality of training is far too low and most instructors aren't adding significantly to the material.

The classroom parts of my course were more or less a waste of my time. I already knew everything from the books, I'm sure there was a couple things I picked up from my instructor, but that part of the course seemed very redundant, the in water stuff was far more valuable.

It's kind of like the situation where some dive shops complain about the internet while others embrace it. I wonder who's doing better, those that adapt or those that complain?

I think the dive industry has kind of lagged by about 10 years with this problem, and it's just starting to catch up to them. It was mainly in the 90s that pre-dot-com companies largely treated the internet as a threat instead of an opportunity (the record companies come to mind as an industry that waited way too long to embrace the industry)

Now technology is hitting the dive industry at full force, and those who sit there and complain about it and just look down at customers who take advantage are going to get left behind.

 

[Thalassamania]

I think that the e-learning option is mostly for people wishing to complete their training in a resort. I am sure that town centre LDS that really add value will always be a choice for part of the audience and have nothing to be concerned

I suspect that the e-learning option is an attempt to lower the cost of training each individual student and also is another step in PADI's ongoing program to enable ever less capable individuals to become diving "instructors."

 

[Interceptor121]

I would agree with the first point and not necessarily I judge that negatively considering the number of shops that go bust every year
PADI is not the only agency offering e-learning and most of the others are working on it already

A possible relationship between e-learning and less capable instructors???

 

[Thalassamania]

I suspect that the e-learning option is an attempt to lower the cost of training each individual student and also is another step in PADI's ongoing program to enable ever less capable individuals to become diving "instructors."

I would agree with the first point and not necessarily I judge that negatively considering the number of shops that go bust every yeart
PADI is not the only agency offering e-learning and most of the others are working on it already

A possible relationship between e-learning and less capable instructors???

E-learning does not, in and of itself, create less capable instructors, but it does permit them. Suddenly the Instructor candidate no longer has to be able to organize him or herself and get up in front of a class, so by getting rid of such "old fashioned" requirements the supply of instructors goes up and their cost to the shop drops.

This is nothing new, it just a larger and more obvious change than in the past. In a few years you'll be seeing instructors from these agencies posting about how it is against standards to give lectures to the class for fear of moving in the direction of the dreaded and forbidden, "know-it-all" course.

 

[Interceptor121]

The post was about direct experience to the program and feedback on it.

Already today students are put in a class to watch a video and then answering questions by themselves. The classroom approach only happens as a back up of not having the video in the language of the student and in some LDS located in towns to provide added value.

Judging from other posts there are already instuctors that give pretty uneventful performance in the knowledge part, maybe e-learning improve things?

Besides have you actually taught a class or you are just speculating?

 

[Thalassamania]

... Already today students are put in a class to watch a video and then answering questions by themselves. The classroom approach only happens as a back up of not having the video in the language of the student and in some LDS located in towns to provide added value.

Perhaps that is the case in your world, that is not the case for others. I, for one, have never use a canned presentation of any sort for any class that I have ever taught, the material in every one that I've ever seen I consider to be woefully inadequate.

Judging from other posts there are already instuctors that give pretty uneventful performance in the knowledge part, maybe e-learning improve things?

I suspect that may be true, there appears to have been a concerted effort to dumb down instructors.

 

[Interceptor121]

I think my world if you count the number of dive center that exist and how they go about things is probably a more accurate description of reality than your classes

When did you teach your last class and in which location out of interest?

 

[vinegarbiscuit]

Hello. Have you actually had any e-learning student or are you just concerned about the possibility that you may loose relationship with your potential students?

Hello back. I am not an instructor, and am therefore unconcerned about the possibility that I myself may lose relationships with potential students. I write only as an extremely interested observer, and as an ordinary diver who is concerned about the potential for dive shops to have a limited relationship with up-and-coming dive students as a result of accelerated education programs based on e-learning.