UoPeople – Money and Payments

J. Francois Barnard – 22 October 2019

The University of the People gives its tuition away for free. The full-time staff contingent for a university with more than 20,000 students is tiny. All the academic staff members (instructors) are volunteers.

The only money payable is a non-refundable registration fee of $60 and after that, a $100 assessment fee per course. So,

Online Studies

UoPeople – Other Online Aids Available

J. Francois Barnard – 20 October 2019

When studying online, Google is your best friend. You ask, and many answers appear. But not all search results are equal. If you really want authoritative answers, try Google Scholar instead, which will give you more academic sources to work from.

The website which surprised me most was Khan Academy. Salman Khan’s TED Talk is just as good to watch as Shai Reshef’s. Check it out. I first encountered Khan Academy in the Art History class. Then when doing Algebra, Sal Khan got the rusted mathematical gears in my head turning again.

Online Studies

UoPeople - Help! I’ve lost my assignment!

J. Francois Barnard – 20 October 2019

In this day and age of working and studying online, no one should lose any data. A few years ago, I lost data and a part of my life in photos! I undertook that this tragedy would never be repeated.

I have previously described my working environment and the computer hardware I use. Here I would like to explain a little more in detail about how I structure my data for my online studies.

Online Studies

The People of UoPeople

J. Francois Barnard – 20 October 2019

When studying online, be prepared to meet people from all over the globe. I mean, really, from St Kitts and Nevis, from Russia, Italy, the Philippines, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal…

In the first few terms, I became friends with Chakib from Morocco and Aldy from the Philippines. Later I met Rahel from Switzerland, who was living in South Africa with her parents at KwaSizabantu, a mission station. I met her for coffee at a mall when she was visiting Pretoria. And I met Ana in the Economics class. She is from Spain but lives in Holland. Massimo is from Italy but lives in China, and David is from Ireland and lives in Australia.

Online Studies

UoPeople – What should my study look like?

J. Francois Barnard – 20 October 2019

Gone are the days where you have a study surrounded with shelves to the rafters to host your numerous books. Although I love the look of it, and I love to crack open a book, the requirements of the modern-day study are somewhat different.

Because you study online, the first two items on the list are the computer and the internet connection. Without either, you cannot study online.

Online Studies