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+--- Thread: Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change (/Thread-Straighterline-New-Proctor-Policy-Change)
Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change - IrishJohn - 10-09-2012
hmuchmo1 Wrote:Great point... this makes the proctored final even less important.
If you can cheat your way through the course then take an open book final, you might get some decent grades that transfer.
I'm assuming that at least a pass on the final exam will be required or folks will be able to do exactly as you say here. If SL hasn't figured this out yet I'm sure they will shortly. Giving more weight to the final would probably solve that. I don't have a problem with that, it's mainly that the way they went about making their changes in policy raised a helluva lot of red flags for me - not to mention that I found it to be an extremely offensive attack on my integrity. I mean heck, they encouraged folks to take as many courses as they wanted to in a month-billing cycle but saying one can be flagged for that later on as possible evidence of cheating well, that was a bit much IMO.
Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change - IrishJohn - 10-09-2012
StraighterLine Team Wrote:In theory you make a valid point. We are trying to add as many guaranteed transfer articulation agreements but it just simply isn't possible to scale to make agreements with everyone. We essentially doubled in guaranteed transfer agreements this year and we are rigorously working on adding others. We believe that requiring proctored final exams will increase our academic integrity and allow us to accelerate the additional schools who will take transfer credit which is beneficial to both us as a company and all of you as the customer.
Since SL isn't a regionally or nationally accredited school, but is instead a private business with agreements with such schools your approach to this still doesn't make much sense. Oh, I agree that increasing your share of the market is wise but not the method of doing so. However, that is how the free market works so SL will have to live with the mistakes I believe it is making and not I. Still, I'd strongly suggest allowing third-party proctors, like college testing centers or the public library, instead of just ProctorU. You are going to scare away a lot of folks who don't want their personal computer turned over to a stranger. I might have still taken some of the SL courses I did even if proctoring had been in place for the finals, but not if I had to use ProctorU. That would made me switch to KCTCS or take the CLEP/DSST exam.
Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change - IrishJohn - 10-09-2012
StraighterLine Team Wrote:On average, students complete a course in 40 days. Some will complete faster, others will take the time they need. That flexibility is meant to be an advantage to the customer. I assure you that we are not flagging multiple accounts on an arbitrary basis. With the changes, students starting a course November 1st or after will be required to complete a proctored final exam and if they were to complete many courses in a short time period there is a basis of validity for academic integrity.
Your own advertising before all of this encouraged folks to take as many courses as they were able to finish in a quick amount of time, which because of the cheaper cost is why I went with SL. I, like others, brings years of work experience into this that gives us valuable knowledge for completing these courses quickly. It's cheaper than doing a PLA. That alone shouldn't be a factor in flagging someone's account. Heck, some people even buy the books beforehand and study up so when they take the course they can finish quickly and not have to pay for extra time. It's kind of like the fellow who took 20 or so CLEP/DSST exams and posted about it recently.
Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change - IrishJohn - 10-09-2012
Pjbarney Wrote:(Read Proctor U's pdf on FAQ's on Privacy.)
http://www.swosu.edu/distance/docs/proctoru-privacy-faqs.pdf
This is no different than the "guarantees" that one's credit card information is protected when buying stuff online, only to find out later that someone hacked into their website and stole a bunch of them! I don't trust some outsider getting access to my personal computer, not at all.
Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change - Pjbarney - 10-09-2012
IrishJohn Wrote:This is no different than the "guarantees" that one's credit card information is protected when buying stuff online, only to find out later that someone hacked into their website and stole a bunch of them! I don't trust some outsider getting access to my personal computer, not at all.
Totally agree. If this policy is supposed to quell someones fears, it doesn't work, makes me even more concerned.
Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change - IrishJohn - 10-09-2012
StraighterLine Team Wrote:We are not requiring all students to retake final exams. It will only affect a very small percentage of students who we have suspected of cheating. This is a preemptive policy to prevent future cheating, but we reserve the right to deal with cheaters accordingly regardless of when we find out.
You'd better have some solid evidence of cheating or you're opening up SL to a heckuva lawsuit. You very statement here seems to equate "students who we have suspected of cheating" with "cheaters" and that will not go over very well. I can understand cracking down on cheating, most school expel students for that behavior, but turning this into a witchhunt is not wise at all.
Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change - SDO - 10-09-2012
Some good news! StraighterLine’s New Online Proctoring Policy | Burck Smith's CEO Corner
Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change - perriquit - 10-09-2012
what is the good news?
Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change - scorched - 10-09-2012
Strangely he simply edits the same post, but in his recent change he says that if a student can provide evidence of appropriate local proctoring, they will accept that. So while good, it still misses the point, of its possible to cheat and pass regardless of final exam proctoring. In my opinion, it fails to solidify their credibility, and seems to be a condition associated to an upcoming contract that all classes require proctoring for it to close. So, just give it some time, they will invariable announce some major new contract, as Jennifer brought to light, and all this will make sense that it was not actually about credibility. Why else would they force it they way they are?
Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change - Publius - 10-09-2012
What else bothers me is that under the $99 a month plan, they're increasing the courses from $39 to $49. I almost started liking SL better then CLEPs and DSSTs because how it paced and how cost effective it was. Not anymore for sure.