divezero:
You may or may not know, the story may have changed around a little, but it comes down to this. PADI will soon be or if they havent already, offering divers to do their open water course online!
This means dive shops who are already suffering from online gear sales will be loosing half of their other source of income, teaching open water classes. Instructors, instead of making 100 bucks, will be making 50 bucks, because they will now be just doing the pool and open water dives, instead of classroom work, causing them to quit or move on. This will hurt local dive shops BIG TIME, with PADI even admitting the future losses.
We have noticed dive sites such as divebuddy.com helping dive shops out, and thank them for that.
In our new interactive online mag, we will have a shop check section which will be dedicated to feature a couple dive shops around the world in each mag. Thus giving viewers around 20% off all gear ( or a even better deal ) for shopping at the store.
If you want to submit your local dive shop for this opportunity, to prepare for the near future results of PADI, keeping the local diving scene alive, please let us know and we will contact them. We will only choose the most interested. The first issue of the online mag is estimated to see over 100,000 + unique views in the first 3 months since its free, unique design, fast download, interactive and FUN. Get your shop signed up and lets promote actual pleasure diving.
PADI has noted, it has now become survival of the fittest, if it means taking most of their loyal dive shops and instructors out of business, then so be it. Lets not let them do it without a fight if you will.
Hi DiveZero. It is astounding how you could misread what PADI is going to do so throughly. Especially since you are the publisher of an online magazine, that would likely research EVERYTHING you say quite carefully.
The PADI eLearning program will be an internet-based approach to the home-study portion of a standard PADI Open Water Scuba Diver class. Neither PADI nor anyone else that I am aware of has ever implied that scuba diving will be taught on the internet. We all know that is not possible. PADI has not changed ONE SINGLE STANDARD with the pending introduction of eLearning. All water skills requirements remain completely intact. This means that a student that enrolls in PADI Open Water Scuba Diver eLearning will choose a local dive store (PADI IRRC Member) for completion of all of the confined water and open water dives. eLearning is simply a more efficient and effective way of delivering the home study material.
PADI has enlisted the services of "Articulate" software consultants in the development of this program. This software is used in the training of industry executives, students in major universities, government employees....all in a BROAD range of disciplines, most that could NEVER tolerate any relaxation of standards in the presentation of material and the learning obtained by the student. The PADI Open Water Scuba Diver course is not going to get easier....if anything, it will be more difficult with eLearning. The PADI dive store will make MORE money on the delivery of home-study through eLearning than they currently do through the sale of the existing Go Dive student kits (a little over TWICE as much....three times as much if they currently purchase from PADI on buying level 3 or less). This certainly cannot lead to the disasterous results you predict. Best of all, it puts the dive store in the position of delivering the home-study material to future customers the way they will WANT to get it......through their web browser, at home, at their own pace. This model is working for EVERY major university in the United States, delivering education on subjects much more serious than scuba diving....it certainly should work for scuba diving home study.
As an Advance Review Store for PADI eLearning, I have been reviewing the completed portions of the eLearning materials over the past week. I find the quality of this material to be absolutely amazing. The use of video, audio, and advanced testing techniques in this eLearning program is simply astounding. The student who completes the home-study through eLearning will come to the confined-water portion of the class MUCH more prepared than is currently likely with existing teaching methods. If a student chooses to "cheat" their way through this material, I guess they could do that. However, it will be MORE difficult to do that with eLearning than is currently is with the existing Go Dive student materials. When a student who has purchased a "seat" in the eLearning program moves to the dive store for the water skills portion of the class, there is nothing that prohibits the instructor from adding class sessions, adding oral exams prior to confined water.....even doing the entire prescriptive training class if they choose. NOTHING in the PADI eLearning program hamstrings the instructor, nor does it prevent the instructor from measuring the degree of learning prior to movement to the confined water portion of the traditional scuba class.
Why not use the power of your new magazine to deliver something that resembles the TRUTH about what PADI is doing? Why not use the power of your magazine to help stores INTEGRATE this new technology into scuba education? Why not refrain from making comments on a board that has 70,000 plus readers prior to understanding the program about which you comment?
I will assume that you have not contacted PADI to get information about this new, exciting training initiative. Had you done so with an open mind, it would be impossible for you to reach the conclusions you have reached. If you don't know who to contact at PADI, call me. I will hook you up.
PADI eLearning may well be the FIRST step ANYONE in this industry has taken in the past 10 years that is designed to help the local dive store prosper. Give it a chance. PADI did not gain the market power it currently has by being stupid. I don't think they are suddenly being so now. Thanks.
Note: I am a PADI IRRC store, and have often been critical of some of their programs and initiatives. I have no criticism of this effort. I think it is first class material, presented in a first class manner, targeted at how the CUSTOMER will want to learn in the future, and represents an extremely positive step-function change for the local scuba store.
Phil Ellis
