Any "Start From Scratch" members willing to share their journey?

[natshar]

The thing with CSM learn course is you have get 100% on everything before you can move on. You unlimited retries on everything. But it pays to double-check and go slow because in the end you will actually go faster. It took me 15 hours spread out over a week. The software is designed very well if you master the stuff, it won't show lower level lessons. But if you struggle it will show more lessons and teach you more stuff that advanced people won't have access to.

For example, the first lesson involved reading a ruler, marked in increments and I knew how to do this with 16th of an inch fractions. If I didn't know this, they would have shown basic fraction lessons and how to count on a ruler etc. If someone struggled with the addition they would show basic 2+2 problems. Basically, the software is smart and lets you skip areas it thinks you already have mastered.

The course is not a race, in order to through it fastest is actually best to double check your work and work slowly because in the end you will have less problems to complete and that will be faster in the long run.

[saraholson]

"With SL, if it is open book and proctored, how do you reference back to the coursework when taking the final test?  Do you keep another browser open?  Do you jump back and forth while taking the exam?"

I just pasted the sentence i am replying to above, since it gets crazy when all the quotes start getting repeated.

For Straighterline quizzes (and open book finals) you have 2 options for how to reference the material.

First off, understand that Straighterline includes video lessons AND a digital textbook with its classes.

The video lessons are truly less than useless. None of the quiz or test info comes from them and i think they are just a huge waste of time. I don't use them. All questions will be from the e-textbook.

You can view the e-textbook two ways: You can download the VitalSource Bookshelf app for desktop (they have one for mobile also) or you can simply open the text in a new tab in your browser. I like to use the app because then i won't accidentally close the browser tab that has the book on it, in the middle of a quiz or exam. The app is linked and explained in the beginning of each SL course i believe. 

To search the book, there is like a taskbar on the left side with a magnifying glass (both on the app and in the browser). The search feature is a built in part of the book. You can search key terms, view the table of contents to skip to a section, et cetera. That is what makes it useful in the open book quizzes and exams. 

In the proctored final you will have to speak to a proctor from ProctorU while you get ready to take the exam and they will sometimes  ask to "see" your textbook. You can explan it's an e-book and show them the VitalSource app. One time i had a proctor argue that my test was NOT open book. i simply pasted them that link i showed you that shows the proctoring details and they backed down and let me use it.

This is my method for doing the SL quizzes. As I am reading the text for the lessons, i make notes about major ideas and what pages they are on - also any graphical charts (especially any graphical charts!). The reason is, when you come upon a question on a quiz and you search that key term, it may come up on dozens of pages. If you have made notes to help you, you'll know what pages you should look at and which ones are not relevant to your current quiz. Also information from graphics doesn't show up in the search feature because it's in picture format, not text. So if you have made a note of what page it's on, and you get a question on it, you can easily go to that page and view the graphic.

[Idreamofadegree]

"With SL, if it is open book and proctored, how do you reference back to the coursework when taking the final test?  Do you keep another browser open?  Do you jump back and forth while taking the exam?"

I just pasted the sentence i am replying to above, since it gets crazy when all the quotes start getting repeated.

For Straighterline quizzes (and open book finals) you have 2 options for how to reference the material.

First off, understand that Straighterline includes video lessons AND a digital textbook with its classes.

The video lessons are truly less than useless. None of the quiz or test info comes from them and i think they are just a huge waste of time. I don't use them. All questions will be from the e-textbook.

You can view the e-textbook two ways: You can download the VitalSource Bookshelf app for desktop (they have one for mobile also) or you can simply open the text in a new tab in your browser. I like to use the app because then i won't accidentally close the browser tab that has the book on it, in the middle of a quiz or exam. The app is linked and explained in the beginning of each SL course i believe. 

To search the book, there is like a taskbar on the left side with a magnifying glass (both on the app and in the browser). The search feature is a built in part of the book. You can search key terms, view the table of contents to skip to a section, et cetera. That is what makes it useful in the open book quizzes and exams. 

In the proctored final you will have to speak to a proctor from ProctorU while you get ready to take the exam and they will sometimes  ask to "see" your textbook. You can explan it's an e-book and show them the VitalSource app. One time i had a proctor argue that my test was NOT open book. i simply pasted them that link i showed you that shows the proctoring details and they backed down and let me use it.

This is my method for doing the SL quizzes. As I am reading the text for the lessons, i make notes about major ideas and what pages they are on - also any graphical charts (especially any graphical charts!). The reason is, when you come upon a question on a quiz and you search that key term, it may come up on dozens of pages. If you have made notes to help you, you'll know what pages you should look at and which ones are not relevant to your current quiz. Also information from graphics doesn't show up in the search feature because it's in picture format, not text. So if you have made a note of what page it's on, and you get a question on it, you can easily go to that page and view the graphic.

Absolutely priceless info!!!!  Gosh, thank you so much for this....seriously.  This is such great information for someone just trying to start this journey and wondering what platform to invest their money into first (and figure out if it would be a good fit).  This is great!

[cookderosa]

I've been an lurking member for some time now and keep getting intimidated with self doubt and where to begin as far as actual committed studying/testing. I have taken a few of the free courses (i.e. sophia, institutes....etc) but really struggle with where to start when choosing a study source.  Lots of other members have started with some college credit, but I am one of those who truly is starting from scratch. 

 Any others out there who have jumped in to get those LL classes started?  If so, would you be willing to share your journey (first classes, study material, time taken, etc...).  

For those who are more experienced with this way of earning credit, which source would work best for a visual learner who likes to follow an outline of course work, take exams/quizes and earn ACE credit for passing?  

Most importantly, which source best prepares you for the testing without having to utilize another source of studying.  For example:  a lot of people utilize the Modern States option due to the free voucher, but also state that the course work alone is not adequate enough to pass the clep, but they also don't state what OTHER means of study they did use to help them pass the clep. 

Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated.

My advice is to pick 1 CLEP or ACE provider, and do a few credits. I don't think any of the alternative credit options are too hard or too easy, they are all doable - but once you start getting a little traction, you'll have a better idea how to navigate.