Online Padi Course

[michigan chris]

I took the online course. IF you watch every video and read everything that is in the course it is not a quickie. I then went down to Florida and did my pool work and open water. The one thing you miss doing the course online is everybody else's questions. But again if you do the course the way you should, you won't have any questions IMO. It is the same material you would get in class. It's a great way to go if you want to do things on your time. IMO

 

[diveshops]

I was certified a long time ago and would like to take the online course as a refresher course. Can someone post a link?

 

[Dive-aholic]

Just buy an updated manual or CD-ROM. It's basically the same thing. Or, if you really want to pay the extra money, visit PADI. The Way The World Learns to Dive and you'll find the link there.

Welcome to the 'Board!

 

[scubaskipper]

For those PADI instructors that aren't very familiar with this new offering, you might want to brush up on the particulars, especially the knowledge reviews and testing portion. There seems to be some confusion here.

 

[barc802]

When we opened our shop we were adimittly against online scuba training for all the reasons that have been posted in this thread.

We are now an SDI shop and really took time making this decission b/c as an SDI shop we have to offer the SDI Online course. Both may partner and I took all the Online courses they offer and were very impressed!

1) It presents the information in all 3 ways learning is achieved; reading text, auditory and visually.

2) It is separated in to sections and are not allowed to move to the next section until you have scored a 100% on the section review. It does not repeat the same questions if you have to take it more than once.

3) It would be hard to fail the final because you have to have a good understanding of the information just to get to the final exam.

As far as the 1 on 1 time with the instructor, SDI requires a 3 hour course review before the pool with the instructor. The you have the pool time.

Our conclution was that the Online course was superior to the classroom, the main reason is the SDI knows that all online students get the information that is presented to them. You do not have the same confidence in instructors in front of a class. I know that the instructors a required to present the information! I am not trying to say they don't, nor am I trashing anyone, I am just saying that sometimes information does get skipped over b/c instructors are human.

 

[denisb73]

I have been a Certified Flight Instructor since 2005 and this sounds a lot like the learnign process during flight instruction. In flight training students use both online/home instruction as well as classroom work. The type of course used by the student depends on the students learning ability and style.

We do recommend taking supplimental courses, such as an online or dvd course, to give the student to opportunity to preview or review a lesson that will work along with the instruction received from an instructor. We tell the student to go over the next lesson and during the next lesson we have the students tell us about the subject they read about. This process causes the student to become involved in the learning process and maiking it an interactive course.

As mentioned above, the student has to ask question about items they might not fully understand but it is also the instructors responsibilty to share experiences and the pros and cons of lessons learned during mishaps and experiences.

 

[rickthescot]

I hold a PADI OW and NAUI AOW. My PADI instructor was less than concerned with the level of knowledge he imparted to the students. Basically he told us that everyone would pass. Even during the test he was willing to make sure we could answer every question. Now please tell me how this was better than an online class. I know many of you are great instructors with real concern for the safety of your students, but all instructors are not like you. I learned far more from my NAUI AOW instructor. I am going to take my Nitrox class online as I can see no reason to travel to a classroom.