Day Skipper theory online - feedback on sailingcourseonline.co.uk

[Linky28]

Hi

After years of dinghy sailing and the odd yacht sailing trip, with encouragement from friends - I want to do my Day Skipper Qualification.

I am trying to decide which online course to take for day skipper and interested in feedback and views from the forum please. Whilst I have seen a lot of positive feedback for Navathome, I also found another online course which seems to have better online screen navigation and progress tracking. This is called www.sailingcourseonline.co.uk and run by Urban Truant, from near Hamble

Has anyone taken their course and can share feedback please? Thank you

 

[Yngmar]

In addition to or instead of the course, I cannot recommend these video tutorials highly enough: http://westviewsailing.co.uk/video-tutorials/

 

[Reptile Smile]

I'm in the same boat, so to speak. ad been looking at http://www.elitesailing.co.uk/distance-learning/ so interested to hear any feedback on these and other providers...

 

[dune16]

I haven't tried either of the above but am actively working through Navathome at the moment and it's working for me so far, hopefully I'll feel the same way after the final assessment!

 

[ex-Gladys]

Over the last 10 years of teaching theory courses, we generally have at least a student a year who has taken an on-line course, and given up...

 

[LittleSister]

Do not under-estimate the value of doing a traditional, face-to-face course.

It's not just having a live tutor, but being able to compare thinking/progress/experience/jokes with other students can be really valuable, I have found.

 

[Skylark]

I don't think there's a "one size fits all" solution to RYA Shorebased training. Different people have different motivation and learning abilities. On-line learning works for some.

My water sports experience started as a diver and I was keen to learn. I bought "Smith; Coastal Navigation" as a self-study text book/course and worked meticulously through each successive section. Later, I did the RYA courses at a local technical college in the days when they were cheap. The rate of attrition was high.

These days I now teach the courses. I think that there are a number of significant advantages in having face to face instruction. There are undoubtedly disadvantages, too. Time to complete and group pace being just two.

I'm a big believer in "the more you put in, the more you'll get out". Small group courses tend, in my experience, to create the best environment for really great questions and off-piste discussions about real sailing experiences.

What ever you decide, good luck and I hope you enjoy it!

 

[PaulRainbow]

IMO :

Online Day Skipper is a complete waste of money. You won't learn anything that you can't learn from a couple of decent books. You can also buy a book of exercises to test yourself. If you can't learn what you want/need from this method then you won't learn it from an online course, go do it face to face.

The certificate is worthless, other than to "prove" to yourself that you knew the test answers. I think it better to read some books and study the free content on the internet and then take the practical course.

 

[NormanB]

Over the last 10 years of teaching theory courses, we generally have at least a student a year who has taken an on-line course, and given up...

Wow that makes the on-line course much more effective than I would ever have thought. A 10% drop out rate is a remarkable achievement.

 

[NormanB]

Do not under-estimate the value of doing a traditional, face-to-face course.

It's not just having a live tutor, but being able to compare thinking/progress/experience/jokes with other students can be really valuable, I have found.

I would support this view BUT.

It is not a zero sum game. Well designed computer based training as a part of a more formal face to face group teaching experience is the better solution. CBT or online resource enables students to work at their own pace, allows repetition and revision, without wearing down the tutor and pissing off the other students, to help achieve mastery of skill subset or failing that identify those difficult concepts the student cannot hack without more help.

The dynamics of the classroom and group interaction are recognised by all AND are much more productive where all the students have the benefits of a supporting CBT module.

CBT on its own, if well designed, can achieve specified training objectives for some students but it is unlikely to a rich experience if not supported by access to live/face to face tutoring.

 

[LittleSister]

I would support this view BUT.

It is not a zero sum game. Well designed computer based training as a part of a more formal face to face group teaching experience is the better solution.. . . .
CBT on its own, if well designed, can achieve specified training objectives for some students but it is unlikely to a rich experience if not supported by access to live/face to face tutoring.

I agree.

I wasn't knocking online resources per se.

 

[ex-Gladys]

Wow that makes the on-line course much more effective than I would ever have thought. A 10% drop out rate is a remarkable achievement.

Of course, to every other sensible person, the point is that they all dropped out of the online courses, and found the face to face a big benefit...

 

[PaulRainbow]

Of course, to every other sensible person, the point is that they all dropped out of the online courses, and found the face to face a big benefit...

I'm curious how the 10% drop out rate was arrived at ?

 

[ex-Gladys]

Wow that makes the on-line course much more effective than I would ever have thought. A 10% drop out rate is a remarkable achievement.

I'm curious how the 10% drop out rate was arrived at ?

Me too...

 

[NormanB]

Me too...

I was being arithmetically generous in assuming you taught at least 10 students per year. If you taught more than that well - you do the sums.

 

[Vanilla]

A friend used this school for her online nav course and spoke highly of it. I prefer face to face teaching myself as lack the discipline to study on my own these days.

http://www.howellsail.com/

 

[RichardS]

I'm curious how the 10% drop out rate was arrived at ?

More like a drop in rate?

Richard

 

[Sandy]

There are many different ways of learning. If you are able to do the course online then it will allow you to study at your own pace. I did the Yachtmaster course online and to be honest would recommend it to anybody as there are bits that, personally, I consider essential that are not covered in Day Skipper. This also gives you the advantage that if you move onto Yachtmaster you have formally studied the materials.

I've attended a lot of face to face training courses for work over the years and unless there is an exceptional tutor and an enthusiastic group of students they offer little, or any additional benefit.

 

[laika]

Sincere apologies if my mild cynicism is misplaced here but isn't "Hey! I found a great alternative to <market leader>! Check out this great website <link>! They have much better <feature X, Y>!" a rather common digital marketing technique?

I do wonder how someone would know how good this organisation's "online screen navigation and progress tracking" was compared with a competitor if they hadn't taken the course.

"Linky28" might well off course be related to someone's nickname and not an account created for posting links for SEO purposes (and not used since doing so)

 

[winsbury]

I did the Navathome course for dazed kipper after research at the time showed most of the other online courses were using the same material, not a surprise really as it all has to meet the prevailing RYA standards. The online advantage for me was taking it at my own pace while being able to still hold down a day job and sail at weekends and not lose any holiday. Their support staff were quick to respond to queries but, as I am an absolute stickler for detail, some of the text I found ambiguous and textbook answers did not necessarily take all possible scenarios into hand. That said, on the allotted day I sat the exam and passed.

So was it useful ? .... yes and no : for my planning and chart work techniques it was great, however, it was assumed on the subsequent practical course that the theory was already known so most theory was glossed over almost entirely. I felt therefore that many people could pass the practical without necessarily having done much background theory and that seems to undermine the value of both courses. The practical course which I subsequently completed in the Canaries to get the tidal endorsed ticket, and some sunshine, was excellent and transformed my confidence and reduced many common situations from panicky to well structured and stress-free.

Dazed kipper is without doubt a stepping stone worth doing for a novice but having already been sailing for some years beforehand I wish I had been braver and signed up for coastal skipper instead because for virtually all passage making there are extra skills needed and insurance companies seem to use that as the bare minimum qualification to start offering discounts.