Hey folks, working on my CM upgrade and discovered that the STAR Center offers a set of “FULLY Online Courses” including Advanced Stability, Management of Medical Care, Leadership and Managerial Skills, and more. See: STAR Center Course Schedule
Has anybody taken any of these classes? Are they worth the time and money versus in-person classroom instruction?
I took Tankerman PIC online and it was fine. I can’t imagine I would have learned any more if it had been in person.
As someone that has taken many online courses myself, and also a former instructor, I have to disagree. I think if you polled my former students, a lot of the most valuable information was the dialogue in between bullet points, applicable sea stories, and tangential subjects that come up during class that you will never get in an online environment.
Don’t get me wrong. Online classes are super convenient and I love them, but as far as value and learning? Classroom sessions win hands down.
It depends on the person and the quality of the instruction and materials. Some people learn better one way or another.
I took as many online classes for upgrade as possible at STAR center. They’re just as useful as the in person class, which is basically not useful. They’re a check in the box for the upgrade.
Meteo is pretty good. If it’s the same instructor she is very good. Was a mate at one point and went back to school to be a meteorologist and has a lot of valuable knowledge that’s applicable to us.
This guy hit the nail on the head. I have taken two online courses so far and they lack a lot of the learning from experience element. Also it’s easy to get distracted and click through quickly. Human contact when it comes to learning is something that’s needed, especially in our industry. Other side of the coin is it’s super convenient.
Back in the day (late 90s) I took a Tankerman PIC course at California Maritime Academy, I don’t recall the instructors name, but he had been a CM on a tanker for years and I swear he knew every possible way they could cheat you on a load.
I wish I took better notes but his stories were so fascinating. Sometimes the most valuable stuff you learn isn’t on the final exam.
I’m ambivalent about the online/vs in-person debate.
My tankerman PIC course was taught by my chief mate, and we’d had a bad voyage prior, so we drank every night and I learned more about the job at the bar than I did in the classroom, but he was a fantastic instructor. Class time was book learnin’ time, which is both undervalued and underemphasized IMO.
I think our trade self-selects for peoole who comparatively benefit more from tactile, hands-on learning than theoretical, so I know this is a One Size Fits Some position, but I believe it’s valid: most classes are 90% filler material to check a box, as Beercaptain said. The remaining 10% are wildly varied in value.
Younger me benefitted from in-person learning and the stories, especially in the prep classes…These days classes are mostly on renewal items, and, TBH, other things of limited value…Can anyone argue, for example, that the entire SSO class could not be replaced by a laminated 3-page infographic so long as it was done in color? If nothing else, that class was most effective… at making me aware that my life will not be so long as to where I can truly afford to waste so many of my remaining days. The SSO class was so vapid it gave me a midlife crisis. I almost bought a Corvette on the way home.
To that end I do like the idea of allowing for 100% on-line learning for many, though not all, of our classes.
On a less serious note, did anyone else do the BST 1-day renewal at MPT around and after the Covid era? The firefighting portion absolutely could have been done online. Squirting a low-pressure hose at a light box in a conex box was not as beneficial as it sounds, and training could be simulated better at home by just peeing on a desk lamp.
Yes, I was there. I took that laughable (if wasn’t so sad) BST renewal at MPT.
“Firefighting” was taught by a retired Fort Lauderdale Fireman that didn’t know one end of a ship from the other.
Same with “Advanced” Firefighting. A total joke.
Guys who could not swim a single stroke and just hung onto the edge of the pool scared shitless got their BST certificates.
Complete waste of time and money. Worst course MPT has ever done.
Further proof (as if we needed more) that the USCG is hopelessly unqualified to be licensing mariners.
