Online Scuba Class

[LunaBuna]

I couldn't find a thread dedicated to online scuba classes. I'm wondering everyone's opinions of Open Water Diver online programs (of course I'm referring to knowledge development, not actual dive skills). Do you think brand new divers learn as much from online classes as they do from face-to-face classes? How about divers who just need to brush up on their basics? I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

 

[boulderjohn]

The classes started a number of years ago while I was working for a dive shop whose instructional director was opposed to online learning, so we did not do it for a while. The he reluctantly allowed it. In the system, the students complete the program, come in to the shop for whatever amount of review you want to offer, and then take an exam in person. I believe I went through maybe a dozen online students before I had the first student miss a single question on the exam. IN my experience, online students learn their academic material much better than those who simply read the book and do the knowledge reviews.

 

[Marie13]

I much preferred the online learning! For SDI, you take the final exam online, then print it out and come into the shop for a review session.

 

[CaptainCalamari]

The one thing it really improves is consistency. You know that everyone has heard exactly the same message, not someone's interpretation of a message.

Yes, it might "dumb down" the good instructor, but it certainly eliminates the bad ones. Especially as this goes out to geographic areas who may not have the same oversight as what people may be use to.

 

[KeithG]

How do you best learn? Everyone is different.

Do you need someone speaking at you? Or can you absorb the material just by reading it? Do you need to also take notes?

Figure out which learning method works best for you and then use it.

 

[Kevo88]

I did the online learning and it worked very well for me. I'm a decent self learner though. The shop I went through was great because even though I was an online student, I was still offered time with instructors to go over anything I needed and have all my questions answered.

The padi online videos, while kind of cheesy, followed the reading material really well. So I felt like I was getting to hear everything twice. Once reading it, then a visualization and example. I say if you're confident in learning that way, go for it.

 

[TMHeimer]

As giffenk says, everyone is different. Online wasn't offered at the shop in '05. I took the two weeknights for 3 weeks then ocean route. Later when DMing OW weekend courses I came to the conclusion that one of those would not have been for me--too much in two days. Some instructors at the shop liked online because students did well on the exam, as boulderjohn said--I imagine also because that left some more time for pool. Some instructors didn't like it when they called students days ahead of the weekend and found some were just getting started online. Personally, I've never seen the online stuff, but would think it would've been great for me. In a situation like that you probably could review a lot when you didn't understand something and skim through some of the obvious stuff. That has a lot to do with how much experience one has in the water to begin with. Just some thoughts.
As a school teacher in the '80s I often thought when VCRs became popular that it would be great if they could ever figure a way to get each parent one so subjects like math, science, etc. (those with material that just needed to be learned, not discussed in a classroom) could be done at home. What a saving on wasted time in school with a class of 30. Guess I was way ahead of my time--online in the 80s.....

 

[Saniflush]

In the camp of everyone is different.

I liked having the hard copy books. There have been a number of times that I have gone back to look at something after the fact.

My wife on the other hand likes the online learning.

 

[The Chairman]

I only teach online courses. I have no desire to be the sage on the stage and feel that online classes are more defensible, because they are so consistent. Also, this gives me more time in the pool to teach actual skills. Yeah, I'm a fan.

 

[Neilwood]

As said by a lot of folk above, different strokes for different folks.

Some like online, others don't. Both however are way ahead of "stand up and lecture for a day" type teaching IMHO.