Aquaponics University Online

[Earthan Group]

Had this sent through by email today. Thought it may interest you.

aquaponicsuniversity-dot-com

[vihalvor]

interesting.. but i raise a question about certification before there's a gov't requirement for it ...
nearly 1000USD for certification seems .. steep.. and its on THEIR system.. not AP in general...

Given theirs is one concept... and they charge 995 USD to learn about it ... i think id rather spend .. what was it.. 29$ and go for the Aquaponics online manual ? :P ...
EDIT: Scrap that .. their Portable farms (TM) training page states 2500 USD ...

Dont get me wrong .. im all for education .. but it just seems overly expensive for training on a system thats nor AP in general, but proprietary :P ... What i see from the curriculum holds nothing which cant be found with one single ( per topic) search on google.... and much more..

They state that witha certification one will be lisenced to :
"The Expandable Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems Technology License is now available for individual installations. This PFAS Technology License is the way you can own the rights to build as many Portable Farms™ Aquaponics Systems (PFAS) Modules as you want in your own installations. There are no sales to other people allowed. The PFAS is one of the most advanced food production technology available in the world today."
and THIS is the general setup:


Looks very much like a NORMAL setup to me, except for the " control" panel....which im also sure int necessarily needed for the average user....

... i see alternately one can opt for the choice to go hands on training for 1397USD on their farm, travel and accomodation not included... i think i got a better idea... pugo, madodel, erwin .. lets set up lisencing certification and a training camp and offfer the same here in manila for 800 online, 1500 hands on, or 2000 for fun :P :P ....

not impressed :P....

[Pugo]

And from what I can see the only filtration is a settling tank.. So they must be using the growbeds to do the bio work.. No, thanks not ready to go backwards in system design.

Along with offering a patio system cert...OMG

[vihalvor]

yeah .. to me this just looks WAY ... SHARK'ish .. i saw they announced some african 1000m2 greenhouse had been certified, but closer serach on google revealed only the SAME text for any press release.. no local coverage, no international trustworthy coverage... mmmm.. seems shady to me...
Also .. the site is used in a storyteller way, picturing the guy nearly as the INVENTOR or AP ... what was it.. 40 years ( or 20 .. not caring to go back again to look) of experience... not a SLIGHTEST reference to the real pioneers of modern AP , not even to the real history of AP ...
nah.. stay away from this shark, i say....

[Earthan Group]

Perhaps write up your own courses, as vihalvor suggested? There are plenty of people making coin out of selling information.

[vihalvor]

Yeah .. im not opposed to making some money out of it, but the WAY they're doing it here..i mean . you guys are also in the Aqua / HP / AP business, but you dont market yourself as neither the inventor of the concepts nor pushing CERTIFICATIONs to the best ap system ( if not the only functionable, as one can get the feeling of they are saying) on the market....
Also their prices are just so out of there, mark it COURSEs does not include the kits.. those come FIRST ...

Im a business man myself, and intend to make money on AP/HP Agribusiness in a few short years.. I may even find ways to sell trainings and concepts if thats the case... but personally i could never dream of promoting it like that, nor take the amounts of money they are asking for something that most of us here are researching through internet and forums....

In my book its as overcharging for plagiarism....

Again .. i have no issues with people doing business... but i do get upset when it reeks of "easy bucks" ....

[Earthan Group]

Yes, I know what you mean. I suppose it depends on how you set your business up. For example in our line of work, some make money from writing and selling articles to aquaculture magazines, some make money by teaching in Uni and College or even schools, some make money from online courses, some dvds, some books and the list goes on. Then there are those of us that build and operate them. I doubt any of our group have a great deal of spare time to do anything outside of design, supply and construction, though one does lecture at uni one day a week. One used to teach and three used to farm...

I would be interested to see some examples of the content supplied in the course before I passed any kind of judgement. I agree the price is somewhat prohibitive, especially for an online course on a specific topic (their systems) when you consider a 4 year full time degree will cost 40K and it will cover a range of topics related to one main topic eg: Aquaculture.

As I received this info passed on by an email, I have made contact with the course provider and opened a dialogue around the courses offered. When I have more information, then I may be in a position to make a call on the courses value.

[vihalvor]

fair enough.. let us know ...
Im wary around certifications, as there are many that offfer certifications for nearly anything..
If this certification has been recognized by any government body thats a whole other thing, but from what i read it seemed to be a 3-5 days course (travel and accommodation NOT included) "certification" youd pay for, that says you are qualified to use THEIR system .. ( which is little else than a basic GB filtered AP system ... not including the control panel, since it did'nt show what it was ) ...

[ande]

Well I think the link is interestinng too,thanks EG

As for the prices/fees, they don't seem werry scary if you compare to other woork shops, confrences or courses where you get to exchange wievs, exchange excperiences, practical training and atend lectures/classes IMO
Then again it deepends on the content, facilieties and qualifications/excperience of the lecturers/instructors.

Online studie prices? some comparences http://www.acs.edu.au/courses/aquaculture-179.aspx http://www.ksuaquaculture.org/Online.htm
seems fair as well?

To call it a university?

exciting anyhow
cheers

[vihalvor]

truth be told i wouldnt react as i did if it hadnt been for the WAY its presented.. using UNIVERSITY is portraying it as a sanctioned educational institution,. Adding CERTIFICATION to it give a sense of necessity , which may not be needed....
I DO feel the price is high, but i would wait until earthan group have gotten more information before i raise my voice over it again...
Im also questioning a bit his background... if he has all this experience, and ( seemingly being the inventor of the AP concepts) ... why isnt he already known.. why cant i find any articles of or about him/them, other than what they have written of this site and the "university" ? ...

To exemplify... had GaryD set up an university thingy.. i would still question the use of university, but not the content, as nearly every AP forum i have visited has used his name as references.... this guy ? .. havent heard a thing....( if you guys know his name and background/experience, then i withdraw all my comments .. ill accept wrong and misgivings if i make them )

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