Online training

[powerskipper]

So much stuff now, is going online train route, what do you guys think about it. I still like a classroom better as I can then concentrate on the info and ask stupid questions, not intentionally normally just the way my brain works.

So with more and more stuff going online, is it a good thing?:encouragement: or not.:ambivalence:

It will save on the number of teachers/ Instructors around, I can see it being the only instruction will be for the practical stuff.

 

[z1ppy]

i like the idea of it but not sure it would work for me in practice....i would be to tempted to get side tracked by something else when i was doing it...

what would be interesting is a virtual / remote classroom where the instructor is teaching via web cam and on hand either verbally of through chat medium to answer all those stupid questions i come up with!

the thing is people learn at different pace and take in information at different speeds. The value of a good instructor is imparting the required knowledge on the student, there is no set way to do this but reacting to how each student learns...

 

[RogerRat]

So with more and more stuff going online, is it a good thing?:encouragement: or not.:ambivalence:

It will save on the number of teachers/ Instructors around, I can see it being the only instruction will be for the practical stuff.

The courses I've done in the past (Competent crew and dayskipper/ Yachtmaster shorebase twice 1980 & 2004) have always been in a classroom.

The added benefits of this, baring in mind 'online' was not an option was that common mistakes are made by all during chart work, from 180 degree errors in planned tracks and starting from the wrong place, laying off tides wrongly and plotting from given coordinates. Yes, we've all done it but at least in a classroom you get to see that you're not the only numpty.

Also, input and real experiences from other participants and the instructor are most valuable and fun. If you've not been shipwrecked, caught out in bad weather, arrived late with wind over tide in the Alderney race, woken up in drifting in wrong place due to bad anchoring technique and so on then:
'You're not a real boater!'
It was these types of stories that prompted me to start the thread that became so amusing.

I would never do or recommend an 'online' course, direct explanation from a good instructor cannot be replaced. That's just imho of course. :encouragement:

RR

 

[mm42]

Also, input and real experiences from other participants and the instructor are most valuable and fun.

I did the SRC course online and it was superb because it was all straightforward learning. I did Dayskipper theory online and it was OK but when I did YM theory in a classroom I learnt a lot more from my fellow candidates and the instructor which, whilst not on the syllabus, was really useful stuff.

 

[lisilou]

Online courses are perfect when you can't necessarily make the time to attend classroom courses which are often held miles away from your home base. For me, the online courses have been an ideal solution but....you have to be very disciplined in setting time aside to complete them (my Coastal Skipper theory being a typical example in that I've done the modules but neglected to set aside the time to complete the final assessment.)
L

 

[bedouin]

I did my YM theory by correspondence - in the days before "on line" - I found it very good, but I am someone who studies well from written material and I liked the freedom to be able to go at my own pace and spend as much or as little time as I needed on each section. However (as with the old OU) there must have been a tremendous amount of work put into preparing the materials.

Some of the issues of on line is not having someone on hand to ask if you don't understand it - but with these days of forums then there are plenty of other sources of information, and the lack of a known peer group that can sometimes help learning and motivation.

Very much horses for courses, different approaches suit different material and different pupils best.

For other technical training I use on line courses quite a bit. Mostly good if you put the work into it. However one of the downsides is that if you as a student don't get engaged with the course then you can easily go through it all and not really take anything in.

 

[benjenbav]

So much stuff now, is going online train route, what do you guys think about it. I still like a classroom better as I can then concentrate on the info and ask stupid questions, not intentionally normally just the way my brain works.

So with more and more stuff going online, is it a good thing?:encouragement: or not.:ambivalence:

It will save on the number of teachers/ Instructors around, I can see it being the only instruction will be for the practical stuff.

I don't absolutely agree. It's easy to start an online course but keeping up the motivation is more difficult and I would expect the completion %age to be way south of courses with personal interaction.

Slight tangent: 100 years ago when I started my PhD course the stats in UK (where the supervision regime was basically: "see you in five years when you've finished your book") were 20% completions; versus US (where the supervision was fairly full-on) where completions were @ 80%. Mind you I was one of the 20% drop outs in New York.

 

[Andrew M]

Got to be classroom based or us. Having recently done Dayskipper theory we are both pretty confident that we wouldn't have completed it anywhere near as well as doing it in the class with other people, it at all.

I can see the benefits for online if that suits you but it wouldn't work for us so we will be doing any more theory work in the classroom or on the boat and any practical on board . hopefully on our own boat.

Andy

 

[powerskipper]

what would be interesting is a virtual / remote classroom where the instructor is teaching via web cam and on hand either verbally of through chat medium to answer all those stupid questions i come up with!



Let me see what I can arrange, this idea has been buzzing in my head too. if a course was offered and it would be set times a week , need to have to look at how and if possible.

 

[benjenbav]

what would be interesting is a virtual / remote classroom where the instructor is teaching via web cam and on hand either verbally of through chat medium to answer all those stupid questions i come up with!



Let me see what I can arrange, this idea has been buzzing in my head too. if a course was offered and it would be set times a week , need to have to look at how and if possible.

Sea survival online:

1 Sit in bath

2 Follow instructions onscreen (nb don't drop it in, especially if using a mains device)

3 Halfway through, pour bucket of water over head.

...

 

[powerskipper]

Sea survival online:

1 Sit in bath

2 Follow instructions onscreen (nb don't drop it in, especially if using a mains device)

3 Halfway through, pour bucket of water over head.

...

love it, what else would not work on line I wonder.

 

[rhino_mac]

I'm doing my Dayskipper Theory online currently - 2015 syllabus. It's the Navionics course but through Ocean Adventure Sailing who offer their own support videos to go with the course. I chose to do the course online simply because talking 5 days off work to do an online course, then a further 5 for the practical is half my annual holiday allocation. Doing the course online saves me the five days (or 3 weekends which definitely wouldn't go down well with wife and kids). I can look forward to the practical in the summer.

So far, it's been superb. You get all the charts, portland plotter, training almanac, skippers handbook etc supplied, plus the RYA's digital plotter simulator to download. I've had a few questions where something has confused me (there was an error on one of the end of sections quizzes where the score is logged) but they have been answered within an hour (even at 11.00pm at night).

Apart from the convenience, I've found that if there is something I don't understand very well, I can spend as much time as I like working it through and there is no pressure to try to keep with the rest of the class. Plus, to get 100% in the score at the end of each section, you really do have to fully understand the subject.

The only disadvantage I can see so far, is there is a lack of clarity when you're doing the end of section "exam". For instance, on the tide table, it's set to give a 10 minute leeway on the answer, but if you're over that as I was because my line was a) too fat and b) wonky to start with I was 15 minutes out on one question, which then threw out every answer after that. I assumed I had completely misunderstood the methodology so went and checked everything for about half an hour, whereas in a classroom environment, the instructor could have seen the cause of the error and corrected it quickly.

On the other hand, there's nothing like doing something twice and wasting half an hour to really drum into you how it's done on the basis you don't want to repeat the mistake. I've only done seamanhip, charts and tide tables (just about to start secondary ports) but I can honestly say I'm confident I could pick up an almanac now and work out a tide for any day of the year, and plot a course etc.

So far, I'm really enjoying the course. I can do it in my own time with a beer in my hand and music in the background. If it continues to be rewarding I can't see why I wouldn't do the various online Yachtmaster theory courses after this one.

 

[RogerRat]

I did the SRC course online and it was superb because it was all straightforward learning. I did Dayskipper theory online and it was OK but when I did YM theory in a classroom I learnt a lot more from my fellow candidates and the instructor which, whilst not on the syllabus, was really useful stuff.

Excellent point, I couldn't have put it better myself.

Here's the weird bit in 1980, with no GPS nav systems, I did it as a sailing boat owner with only one motor boater present out of 8 pupils.

In 2004, I wanted to update and a refresher as 'Morse' code and RDF has become less important now. This time, as a the only mobo owner out of 6 pupils.

Both courses were 95+% sail boat related. :ambivalence:

Was this because of the balance of participants in these cases or because of the RYA syllabus?


RR

 

[Hurricane]

Classroom vs Online
I would go with "kind of" halfway.
In other words - a correspondence course by email.
That is how I did my YM theory.

As we get older, it becomes increasingly more difficult to learn stuff.

I find that in a classroom, there is pressure (however good the instructor is) for you to move on to the next subject without fully grasping the previous one.
The same thing would apply to a live instructor over the internet.

My course was with Chichester Online and the great thing for me was that "I went at my own speed"
As far as support was concerned, we were encouraged to ask questions.
I did the work in the evenings, then sent an email that night with my queries and there were specific answers to MY questions first thing the next morning.
It was still a very personal service and really helped me understand the course.

So, my vote would be for correspondence courses by email - simple really.

 

[Hurricane]

I wanted to update and a refresher as 'Morse' code and RDF has become less important now.

... .... .. _

Showing your age Roger.

 

[P4Paul]

I did my training online with Chichester Maritime over five days and it was fantastic, well thought out presentation of the theory with great online support.

Did my MBA online and it was complete pants, great presentation of the material, absolutely **** online support.

Personally I like the flexibility of online learning but it is the level of support that makes or breaks it as a effective learning tool.

 

[Searush]

So much stuff now, is going online train route, what do you guys think about it. I still like a classroom better as I can then concentrate on the info and ask stupid questions, not intentionally normally just the way my brain works.

So with more and more stuff going online, is it a good thing?:encouragement: or not.:ambivalence:

It will save on the number of teachers/ Instructors around, I can see it being the only instruction will be for the practical stuff.

I spent many years in training design & delivery & was a full member MIPD (professional organisation for Personnel & Development). At one point my employer (a major technical company with a huge training requirement) decided that computer based training was "the answer". Such courses seem to take a lot longer to design & set up but cost very little to run so seemed a good idea long term. I tried a few courses & found them easy to complete with a good success rate, but almost zero retention. I could read the stuff & answer the questions correctly using short term memory only, but actually learned very little.

Others may have a different experience, but with a live tutor (yes I know you are considering how to do this) all students questions can be answered, unnecessary material can be cut & unplanned, but important stuff added to meet students needs. In addition, I found that students learned much from each other & many actually taught me stuff that wasn't covered in the "handed down wisdom" that I was expected to teach.

I find that self-teaching (from correspondence courses or primary research) is good & tends to stick much better than the typical "read this & answer questions" sort of stuff. The key thing is applying the "knowledge" to solving realistic problems. Later courses I designed always had a series of tasks that had to be completed following the initial lesson. These exercises immediately highlight any misunderstandings or weaknesses. Often I used students in small groups working together to solve the problems & the intergroup discussions are really powerful at brining out the different was of "killing the cat".

Good luck, it is a complex & interesting problem.

 

[rhino_mac]

The thing that I find with the navathome Dayskipper course is there is a really nice balance of reading, then going away to work on the charts with a portland plotter and divider to answer some questions. They seem to have a nice balance with harder subjects having four or five questions that build in complexity, whereas simpler "memory" subjects (such as Seamanship which pretty much covers parts of the boat, knots etc) has a quick quiz at the end.

I do agree that you miss the interaction with a real teacher, but somebody above mentioned that you are almost under pressure to keep up with the rest of the class when you do it in a classroom and I really agree with this. With the online course, if you don't understand something you just hit "back" a few times and re-read. I've found if I don't understand something, it's because I have missed some information in the text and re-reading generally highlights this.

Each to their own of course - everyone has a different learning style but I have been really pleasantly surprised with how good the Dayskipper course is.

 

[rubberduck]

If you are in training / instructing you must use technology, classroom & practical all together, make it work a bit like the open university. Learn online & then attend class for extra training, practical & assessment. One thing I have learned in business, if you don't use tech to your advantage, it will screw you as others will. You have to stay in front, or at least keep up.

 

[Dab]

It doesn't have to be either or, and people learn in different ways. There are lots of classroom based courses and lots of online courses, but what about a hybrid? Some one earlier mentioned that a five day or three weekend residential theory course takes up a lot of either holiday or family time, and my experience of the shorebased courses was that they were quite intensive. Distance based learning allows students to progress at their own pace, with time to catch up or repeat stuff that they find tricky. For the shorebased theory you could combine both methods. One way of doing it would be for everyone to complete the syllabus online then have a residential consolidation weekend. You could either do the assessments on the Sunday, or use the whole weekend for consolidation/revision then complete the assessments online.