Boat EDReviews 67

Shame on boat-ed for blatantly lying about the length of time it takes to complete the California Boater Course that is required for the California Boater Card.

They claim the following from their website:

"How long will it take to complete the course?"

"Typically it takes about 3 hours to go through the online course, excluding any quizzes and/or exams and re-studying that you may choose to do."

I took this class as fast as the program would possibly allow me to and I completed it in no less than 6 hours. Yes there were 6 10-question tests throughout but I sped through all of them and never scored less than 100% on each of them. It's not as though I needed any remediation or had to study or retake any of the exams. I missed one on the 60-question final but again, the final took me no more than 12-14 minutes. It's fine to charge $35 for the course but it's not if you're going to charge people more than the other online companies under the premise that this is the quickest offering at an average of 3 hours total. Not only a misleading claim but it's a flat out lie. If I took it again I would just take the free course that takes "4-8 hours to complete."

Save your money and look elsewhere.

At first I was a honestly a little annoyed at how long the course was. After completing it however I have a much broader knowledge of boating and safety. I have been a boater and fishermen for over 40 years and thought I knew everything there was to know about boating and water safety. I realized I was wrong and am happy to say I really appreciate the easy to follow instruction of the course as well. I can say know that I am definitely going to be a safe more confidant boater. Thank you boater Ed for providing this fantastic educational tool!

Clear instructions. Very comprehensive content.
Easy to review before taking test. Separated into chapters. Pretest given after each chapter so student can repeat or review for final test.
Online Booklet included for reference (same booklet which comes with many life jackets).
Videos in course give how-to techniques on use of boats and jet skis using real people performing tasks correctly. Course also uses animated examples which shows how to follow boating laws and rules.
This course allows the student to stop and start in their own time. I was able to score 100% on the final exam after completing all segments over the course of about 5 weeks.
I was a little confused about how to get the certificate when I finished. I found out that I could print it out from the website myself.
I definitely recommend this course. It's not expensive and the information is valuable.

The navigational section and fire extinguisher section could be more extensive in order to properly retain and commit to memory. The final sections were purely common sense and I flew through them as I expect anyone else would. The final charge of $10 was confusing and took a lot of back button and time to search for a reason as to why additional payment is needed. Most people will assume the $34.95 in the beginning is the one and only payment. An explanation and better instructions to acquire the verification ID # would make it easier.

I found the course content relevant and interesting, but the design is very outdated. The microlearning videos are very good---brief, cover the relevant learning objectives, and do so in an intertaining way, but the animation and multiple choice quizzing slows down the learner and are more of a distraction. There is a lot of redundancy between sections and a streamlining of the course would increase engagement and effectiveness.

Having led a corporate global learning department in a regulated industry, e-learning courses are undergoing great change, as learners expect learning experiences more like NetFlix and YouTube---brief, solve my problem, and move on. Research is showing better design has better business results. WOuld be happy to discuss more if desired... kenneth. G. *******@comcast. Net