Anyone having trouble working through Saylor courses? Format issues!

[dfrecore]

I will be the first to admit that I am easily distracted. So, when I go to Saylor's website to try to work on a course, it is REALLY hard for me to get through. It is a hot mess, IMHO. There does not seem to be a simple way to work your way through. You go to Section 1.1, click on the little arrow, and it opens up to a bunch of links. You have to read the instructions ("Instructions: Read sections 18.1 to 18.3 on pages 540 to 543. Note that this reading covers the topics outlined in subunits 1.1.1 and 1.1.2. This reading should take you approximately 30 minutes.). Then you click the link, which is a PDF, which you then read. Then you hit the back button which takes you to the course page. There is nothing that tells you what you've completed. Nothing to show you where to pick up where you left off. You can't find if you missed anything. I can't see if you take an assessment, whether or not it keeps track of your scores (looks like it doesn't to me).

I have taken other free/cheap courses online and had much better luck with them. TEEX has a good website which I find easy to use. I can just work my way through each section, and it checks it off as I go. Kaplan's PLA course also worked in this way. ALEKS was different, but still easy to figure out what to do next. Khan Academy is simple. Udacity is easy. Sophia Learning is working for me. None of them are perfect, but they're all simple and intuitive for me to use. Most have a dashboard, which gives me all the info I need. I know where I am in the course, how I'm doing on quizzes/assessments, my cumulative score, etc. I don't have to open PDF's or link over to videos on another website. It's all embedded right in the program.

I just can't seem to find a simple way to work through a Saylor course. Every time I get the motivation to start, it seems hopeless and I quit. I was really hoping to use these courses to help study for my TECEP's that I need to take (Engl II, Microecon, Managerial Acct, Strategic Mgmt, Advertising). I need to spend some time learning the material, rather than just using IC flashcards, which are not my best option of studying for an exam. I like to learn it fairly thoroughly first, then use the flashcards to make sure I'm ready for the exam.

Anyone have any tips? Or would like to commiserate with me? Am I just wrong? Are my expectations too high?

[cookderosa]

I feel your pain.

I use Saylor a lot, with my homeschooled kids, in my own study, and in the study groups I coordinate for parents. I too am frustrated by the link maze, but in addition, the volume of work exceeds what any reasonable person is going to do imo. I have no intention of investing 200 hours in Intro Psych (it may be more, I quit counting mid-way). So, I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I create a document whenever we start a class. By doing the copy/paste, then I can highlight what I want them to do for the day/week and use they use the strikeout feature when they're done. This isn't perfect, but for a decent and thorough free curriculum, I use it as much as I can.
*keep in mind I've never pursued the courses as directed for college credit, so in that case, my "system" might not work because it wouldn't mark links read, but I just do this when we do indy study.

[AngelaP]

I wasn't crazy about Saylor either. Besides the things you mentioned, there are numerous links that don't even work. To much busy work, but I guess that is the trade off for only costing $25. If nothing else, just make a little note of where to pick up next time.

[sanantone]

You still have to click on multiple links, but Saylor has made it easier to track your progress through Moodle.
https://learn.saylor.org/