UoPeople and the ProctorU Exam
J. Francois Barnard – 31 October 2019
I have just completed my three exams for term 1 of the 2019/20 academic year, and one of them was a “proctored” exam. If you are new to this terminology, a proctored exam is basically an exam you write under the supervision of a neutral person (the proctor) who ensures the identity of the test taker and the integrity of the test-taking environment.
UoPeople – How does the grading work?
J. Francois Barnard – 31 October 2019
Well, I thought that is such an obvious topic that we should not have to cover it. But when I first saw how the grading was done at UoPeople, I was amazed.
I grew up in South Africa, and here the grading worked more or less as follows:
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. (Editor's note in 2021: 75,000 students by now!) 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 (Editor' note in 2021: $120) assessment fee per course. So,
UoPeople – Coping with exam stress
J. Francois Barnard – 22 October 2019
Exam time can be extremely stressful. Writing the exam online in a country where the internet and power grid are unstable is even more stressful. But if you are studying at UoPeople, one of the things you least have to worry about is the Moodle server.
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.