PADI e-learning...how good is it?

[kmitch]

Let me point out another thing you are forgetting about e-learning:
- The avg open water student (who isn't on these forums, lets all be honest and admit we are scuba geeks ) goes to the knowledge reviews, reads the question and then hunts for the answer without reading the book. That student misses alot of information that is not covered any other time in the course. If you've never taught diving you'll have a hard time understanding this, but there is plenty of information in the book you don't have the time or means to put into your class.

E-learning forces the student to show progress without 'moving backwards'.... they have to interact with the software regularly to 'prove' they are paying attention. Books don't have that. Also, if you take standard OW without e-learning, the slides you'll see and info you get is the "safety concepts review" (That is the PADI name for those slides).... It does NOT cover everything. So even though you sit in lecture, if you don't read the book, you don't do well.

For something meant to be fun, like diving, e-learning makes it fun. Most students have no interest in reading the book.

And I completely agree, it is up to the instructor to make or break the deal, e-learning and the book cannot do that. My argument is that the divers I have certified using e-learning versus the same divers who took the lecture seem to have better information retention.

E-learning isnt for everyone, but in my personal experience I have seen better divers from e-learning than from the traditional class (as a whole, there are exceptions)

And if you think e-learning is hurting the industry, think again. More students have more time to take the class when it is on their schedule, plus they still need the brick and mortar shop for pool and OW dives. Theoretically the instructor could train twice as many students in the same amount of time, which would mean more revenue for the shop (I don't agree with a rushed class, just stating a theory). How exactly is that bad for the industry?

KM

 

[Slonda828]

And if you think e-learning is hurting the industry, think again. More students have more time to take the class when it is on their schedule, plus they still need the brick and mortar shop for pool and OW dives. Theoretically the instructor could train twice as many students in the same amount of time, which would mean more revenue for the shop (I don't agree with a rushed class, just stating a theory). How exactly is that bad for the industry?

KM

I couldn't agree with this more. I took my E-learning portion of the OW course when I was in Iraq, and it literally kept me sane and gave me something to look forward to at the end of many horrible days. I was very prepared when I arrived at my LDS, and I got my card many months earlier than I would've had I had to get the book in person and study, as I was not going to finish the class until I felt like I had a mastery of the concepts, skills, and theory outlined in the OW course.

 

[Acanthurus]

I have just stumbled across this post and am interested in the opinions voiced since I did e-learning and then had to go out of town for the contained water and OW dives - no LDS in town.

The e-learning is very basic and easy to understand and yes, it is interactive ensuring I had indeed read all the info.

My comment is that if time and schedules are the reason to use e-learning, make sure you have adequate water time! I was a little rushed and struggled a little during the OW dives - made more difficult since I had a different instructor than for the contained water dives. I persevered though, became certified and have since dove with my husband who is quite experienced. Having heard me voice my comcerns about my OW dives he was pleasantly surprised with how I did with him. Buoyancy remains a challenge but from reading the board I am reassured I am not alone in this!

So, just make sure you are happy with the amount of water time you receive and I think e-learning will serve you well.

 

[Dallaskimg]

Just a waste of money!
This is likely too late for you, but for anyone thinking about taking Padi eLearn… Don’t do it! If you want to spend more time at home than on your vacation to learn the material find a course book and read! The course was bare minimum in information, definitely no details. The web site is challenging and works poorly. I was trying to do my AOW coursework early and when signing up it made me enter the dive shop information (the place I was doing my check off dives) then it would move to the payment screen. Each timeI got to that point it changed the requested course back to Initial Open Water (more $$.) Intially I only noticed that the price at checkout went up so I started over (3 times) and eventually just paid. Only then did I realize the issue. I received an email from them (support@mail3.padidiver.com)and responded, that’s a dummy email address (yes, I read over the email looking to see if it said DO NOT RESPOND or something to indicate it was outgoing only) that goes nowhere. I went to the site and used the Contact Us, wrote in my issue and still nothing. I finally had to call to get a refund. Lastly MORE $$$$. They may ask you about what dive center you plan to use but that is a waste because they do nothing. You do the coursework and print a form to take to the dive center. So My dive center charged their regular fee for the entire course, plus I paid Padi and extra $120 for the hard time. Also the site has several question glitches, where the answers contradict or are just wrong (it happens) and it acted as if it was going to give me a final cumulative exam but then immediately ended and said congratulations. Therefore I had to take the final on my vacation at the dive shop, which had info never addressed in the eLearning course!
I love my dive shop but they may not tell you the same about getting the coursework out of way, but they want to dive… not sit in a classroom talking to you! I get that, I want to dive too!

 

[jsamuelson]

This is the total opposite of my experience, the OW elearning was excellent, especially the new version, the site worked fine, payment went through fine, I had a query and got a fast and helpful response from PADI EMEA in London. Any dive shop is fully aware of elearning and should NOT charge you the full price for OW or AOW courses...and the info is absolutely the same in both online and book course except for small differences in the new OW curriculum.

I, my wife and daughter all did elearning and other than some dive table revision with our instructor we were all happy that we had the knowledge we needed to dive safely.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Your one point is actually not true. When it first came out, and I have not heard any different, shops were not advised to lower their course cost. Or if they did, not by much. You were supposed to be paying extra for the convenience of doing some of the academics on line. At one point I was firmly against elearning. Now I see the value. It can be a valuable supplement to a course. But it should never reduce classroom time. It can't see whether you actually understand the material or are just able to parrot it back.

 

[jsamuelson]

Well, you're incorrect as far as I can see, as most the dive shops I have looked at are not only aware of elearning, they seem to encourage it despite the fact that it is presumably less cash in their pocket. I assume they make more money guiding qualified divers so they would prefer you to be in the water rather than in the classroom.

I'm sure you think this is a terrible idea Jim, but some people just want to experience diving in lovely balmy waters and don't want to spend days on theory not relevant to their level or days on skills they probably won't need in 10m of water before being allowed to look at fish during their limited time on holiday...

All of the shops I have looked at reduced the cost of the OW course correspondingly, and almost all of them provided an actual link to associate the dive shop with your course to make it as easy as possible to sign up. Not even PADI insists you pay for the course material twice.

 

[BDSC]

E-learning was not an option when I took my course but if it had been, I would have used it. I think it's a great idea. Any person with just an average amount of intelligence should be able to grasp the concepts taught in a basic OW class. The only part that I could see someone having possible questions on would have been in using the table but it's my understanding that's not even taught anymore unless e-learning still teaches it. I have no idea. I think less time should be spent on the book part and more time needs to be spent on actual diving skills.

 

[jsamuelson]

I think the tables should still be taught just as I think map reading should still be taught in the age of GPS. You never know when the toys will stop working!

 

[BDSC]

I think it's optional now with some of the agencies. It would be interesting to know when it is an option to teach it, how many instructors still do. With computers becoming so cheap for a good basic one, I just don't see the value in teaching the table anymore.