The last time the folks at RAID released an update to their Instructor and Instructor Trainer programs was in 2014. This week, the agency issued new instructor-level core programs: Instructor Development Program (IDP), Instructor Trainer Program (ITP) and Instructor Playbook.
“Since RAID is an entirely digital agency, we are, by default, prescriptive teaching experts, and this can present a host of problems when designing an education system. Many educational models are based on an instructor delivering an entire presentation to their audience. With prescriptive teaching, this is not the case, since the instructor is only asked to deliver small bites of information based on what the student has missed while working through the online academics.”
RAID analyzed its entire program and identified areas that needed modernizing. Instructor candidates often complain that they find it outdated, cumbersome and stressful when the topics of dive travel, dive equipment and continuing education are forced together in an unrelated presentation — an industry standard practice — during their IDP. Consequently:
“We have listened and have made the classroom presentations less complicated, more appropriate and more fun.”
RAID added mandatory workshops—Equipment, Continuing Education and Local Diving and Travel—as integral parts of every course, thereby removing the need to insert these topics into any unrelated presentations or academic discussions.
This means that, even if a student gets 100% on all quizzes and exams, they will receive vital instructor input regarding these specific areas.
RAID has also introduced a new “Instructor Playbook” that replaces the older confined water and open water instructor guides, and is offering a REMOTe-Training instructor crossover package for those instructors who want to make the move to becoming RAID-certified instructors.
“By taking advantage of our new IDP designs and utilizing advances in technology, we are able to confidently, safely and conveniently bring approved instructors to RAID while maintaining our high standards.”
For more info, go to diveraid.com.
