dive-training.com

[ZoCrowes255]

I am of the persuasion that the classroom session of Scuba Diving needs to slowly be phased out and with more emphasis placed on home study. www.dive-training.com now allows you to do that and I think that is pretty cool. It allows the student to put more emphasis on pool time when working with an instructor. Both NAUI and SSI have signed on to this program but PADI is still holding out.

Thoughts on this?

 

[AquaTec]

here is another on-line training source

www.scubaboard.com


I think this is a bad idea, it is just a short cut. you can not learn online what you can from an instructor.

 

[kimber]

AquaTec once bubbled...
here is another on-line training source

www.scubaboard.com


I think this is a bad idea, it is just a short cut. you can not learn online what you can from an instructor.

I think it has it's place. You can require your students to pass exams in your presence before letting them get wet. There are checks and balances you can put into play too...

For the busy person who doesn't want to sit around listening to a lecture, this could be highly beneficial.

Kimber

 

[cmay]

Actually, PADI has been doing this for several years now with their CD ROM.

 

[AquaTec]

TekDiveGirl once bubbled...


I think it has it's place. You can require your students to pass exams in your presence before letting them get wet. There are checks and balances you can put into play too...

For the busy person who doesn't want to sit around listening to a lecture, this could be highly beneficial.

Kimber

If you use it like home study and then make sure the information is understood, i agree that this could work well. but it needs to be combined with an overall program

 

[detroit diver]

ZoCrowes255 once bubbled...
I am of the persuasion that the classroom session of Scuba Diving needs to slowly be phased out and with more emphasis placed on home study. www.dive-training.com now allows you to do that and I think that is pretty cool. It allows the student to put more emphasis on pool time when working with an instructor. Both NAUI and SSI have signed on to this program but PADI is still holding out.

Thoughts on this?

Yes.

This idea is absurd. There'e no give and take without an instructor. And the instructor can't evaluate whether the candidate is really grasping the material, or just regurgitating facts.

How much dumbing down can this industry take? What's the next shortcut to bring in more c-cards and cash? Soon they'll let you take a shower with your BC on and get your card. Or just breath heavy into the phone so simulate an emergency ascent (well, that might be interesting! )

What agency even allows this? As a new diver, or potentially new diver, can you honestly tell me that you'd feel comfortable learning diving on the web?

 

[Big-t-2538]

No one should be learning a life-supporting system on-line. The idea is ludicrous, and the fact that NAUI supports it surprises me. You cannot replace good instruction with a computer, you cannot replace in-class demos with a computer. As for the pool thing, the only classes I've helped with are run through school, and we do a minimum of 8 weeks in-water training (2 hours each session). This is coupled with 2 hours each week in the classroom. So I haven't been involved with abbreviated pool sessions, and I really don't believe in them. Not to say that we think you have to have 16 hours of pool time, we do a lot of other things in the pool that most classes do not offer and train students to do. (simulated night dive, blacked out mask work, situation handling exercises, etc. depending on time). I do feel that you need to have a minimum of 8 to 10 hours in the pool (for a class of 6 to 10) to get them ready for open water.

Anyway, point is, that you can't interact with a PC...you can try, but it really doesn't work

-TT

 

[TCDiver1]

No, i think this idea has it place as long as knowledge reinforcement and assessment is left in the instructors hands. I find younger students actually do better with interactive media type knowledge development than sitting in the classroom. And i'm not just talking about test scores here but actually learning and retention of knowledge.

I suspect Padi has not jumped on the bandwagon since this would seriously cut into their student materials sales. Before you slam me on that know that i am a Padi instructor

 

[TCDiver1]

Big-t-2538 once bubbled...
You cannot replace good instruction with a computer, you cannot replace in-class demos with a computer. As for the pool thing,

You can still do in-class demos and reinforce or assess knowledge in the classroom in addition to computer learning. This should leave more time available for CW or OW work where the rubber really meets the road in diver development.

 

[MikeFerrara]

The PADI program is set up so that it can be conducted with virtually no lecture. When I was a new instructor I took full advantage of this. You know...it makes things so convenient and easy for the folks.

Over time however I have added more and more lecture. I don't invent topics that are not covered in the class but I think I have a lot of first hand knowlege and experience that can be of use to the student (that's why I'm the instructor) and I sure can elaborate on a bunch of it.

The increase in lecture is one of the things I think has contributed to the drastic improvement in the quality of divers we're turning out.

There is no comparrison between divers we turn out now and the ones we trained several years ago. There is no comparisson between the divers we turn out and those turned out by the shops around us.

I do think that home study either on-line or with a book is good to have student come to class with some understanding of the subject. But if I was expected to skip the lecture and just take them diving I would refuse PERIOD.

Home study and six hours in the pool isn't going to cut it for most student and anyone who says otherwise has no experience in dive training or is a lier.