Domains of Learning and
the Future of Dive Training
The future of diver training is changing — and changing rapidly. PADI recently introduced its first two on-line courses: Scuba Review and Discover Nitrox Diving. SDI has long had a complete learn-to-dive program on line. Many of today’s divers already learn from material stored on CD-ROMs rather than printed textbooks.
Not everyone sees this as progress. We hear concerns over the depersonalization of diver training — and about students getting in the habit of going to the Internet for training, rather than to their local dive store.
None of this is new. With the advent of video-based diver training materials in the 1970s, there was concern that instructors would be replaced by TVs and VCRs. It didn’t happen. Why? Because, while video can greatly enhance the learning experience, it can’t, by itself, ensure that learning has taken place.
To better understand the role the Internet and personal computers can (and will) play in diver training, it helps to know more about how and why people learn.
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