Straighterline New Proctor Policy Change

[ryoder]

Its my opinion that there will be less cheating when proctoring is implemented. Thats a good thing.
I always tell people to do CLEP/DSST/ECE/TECEP or ALEKs ahead of Straighterline but Straighterline does have some courses that are not available through those methods and its an option if you don't feel like leaving the house to test. For me it was great because I finished 3 courses over Christmas break when all the testing centers were closed. Two of the courses were not offered through testing out also.

I also took and passed A&P I&II through SL and those will probably never be offered through CLEP. ProctorU is here to stay so get used to it.

[Jonathan Whatley]

Another possible advantage of Straighterline, in some circumstances, is that it can result in graded credit, at those partner schools that give graded credit (some do, not all), when credit is transferred directly (not through ACE).

Charter Oak, if my understanding is current, offers graded credit for directly transferred SL courses. This could be an advantage in a subject where the competition was CLEP (inherently pass-fail), ALEKS (ditto), or three-digit DSST.

[Jackinrke]

Hey Jason, does this count for students even whose partner colleges do not require proctor exams for the Straighterline courses they take?

Even at $139 it's still a bargain. However, it shouldn't be applied to students who don't require the proctored examinations anyway. WGU for example require proctored examinations. TESC does not.

$99 + 49. + 30.

[scorched]

It my understanding SL is $99 + 49, this will include the proctor U according to their site.

And I couldn't disagree more ryoder..
Look at the history of cheating, and notably at some prestigious institutions.
Here is the link at the most recent for Harvard scandal.
Harvard Cheating Scandal - Business Insider
Then the infamous Naval academy, or Duke, UVA... list goes on forever, and this is just USA schools.

Did you formulate your opinion from under a rock?
Just google it, you will find more than you can read, all of which are people that got caught, what about the ones we don't hear of?
Cheating has been around since we started this archaic putting people with degree's on a pedestal crap.
Then artificially reporting it deserves or equates to more money by having one than not.
Unfortunately people like me proving that wrong, with no degree pulling down 250k a year. Then Bill Gates, Michael Dell, and others take it to a whole new level.
However, as long as degree = $$ then it's safe to say that if cheating is occurring at the the B&M schools of this caliber, then its happening everywhere, and no goofy insecure proctoring is going to stop it.
The old saying build a better mouse trap, and I will engineer a better mouse. Because I have already thought of several ways to "crack" the system wide open and prove them all wrong, just to prove a point. And if you have the background in software the way I think you do, then you know what I am talking about.
I live my life by honor, and having worked with Army SF I take one of their motto's to heart.
"Death before Dishonor"
So would only do such a thing to not gain credits for myself, but expose the lies of such bogus technology with people attempting to profit from it wrongly, ie SL.

[Ace_King]

Jack, I didn't have time to re-edit that post. But it was before I also found out that SL was also increasing the cost per course. I had a miscalculation on that one, heh. CLEP/DSST/ALEKS/PENN-FOSTER are better alternatives and much safer people.

Don't want to wake up one day knowing some one in Europe used your credit card to purchase a tv. We all saw what happened to Sony in 2011. Bottom line, if it can happen to Sony it can definitely happen to ProctorU. I'm all up for proctored examinations, but don't charge me for it and don't "force" me to use a for profit company to view and access my screen.

[ryoder]

I don't want to get all political on here but isn't Obama care all about forcing people to use for profit companies to provide health insurance?
Maybe Straighterline should have made an agreement with ProctorU behind the scenes so people don't feel like they are paying proctorU directly.
Profit motive is a great thing. It makes ProctorU's prices competitive. If you can come out with a better online proctoring solution and market it better you will get the profit. If they were a gub-mint entity they would bleed money and the taxpayers would just have to suck it up.

[richardlegal]

Anyone wanting to sue StraighterLine? If you can satisfy all the criteria below, PM me - we have a legitimate case here. It does not cost you anything. I am helping one of my client to prepare a lawsuit.

a) You have bought the course before November 1, 2012.
b) You have passed all the exams (including final) on or after November 1, 2012 - but grandfathered by their announcement that the proctoring did not apply in the first place.
c) StraighterLine asked you to retake all or part of the exams as proctored exam whether you have finished the course or not.

Thanks
Rich

[LaterBloomer]

Really, Ryoder? You didn't want to get political? Your e-mail surprised me with its views regarding competition. Businesses have gotten so big in the US, that they've trampled on any attempts at competition. Remember Word Perfect? My guess, and this is only a guess, is the Microsoft wanted to buy it, but the owner wouldn't sell. (That seems to be Microsoft's M.O.) Word Perfect, was, well, a perfect word processing program. Instead, Microsoft used their might to bundle Word into its Office Suite, and we get a second-rate program for word processing. Where is Word Perfect today? Stagnating somewhere because Microsoft sucked all the oxegen out of the room. And Beta versus VHS? Don't get me started. Businesses today do not care about America, the buying public, or anything other than the bottem line. And, contrary to Hollywood writing, greed is not good. Also, do not get my started on AT&T and the break-up of their monopoly. If Verizon has any competition, I'd like to see it. Trust me, trying to get ANY customer service from them is a hopeless task.

[Jackinrke]

Well guess staighterline didn't like my Facebook post, because it's not allowing me to reply to their reply.
Look I don't care about the Protoring issue but at least be honest about the pricing after Nov Their own website states

New course purchases:*You will be able to add proctoring for each course at the time you make your purchase.

Existing courses:

First, login to your StraighterLine account as a returning student, found here: https://www.straighterline.com/site/login.cfm
Second, on the left-hand side, click on 'Manage Proctoring Sessions'
Third, click on 'Add Proctoring Session' and go through the checkout process to submit the $30 payment to add that session
Fourth, once you have purchased a proctoring session, go back to 'Manage Proctoring Sessions' in your StraighterLine account and click on 'Access Online Proctoring' to schedule
How do I schedule my proctoring session?

In most cases you will need to schedule your session at least 72 hours in advance

Login to your StraighterLine account as a returning student, found here: https://www.straighterline.com/site/login.cfm
On the left-hand side, click on 'Manage Proctoring Sessions
Click on 'Access Online Proctoring' to schedule
When are proctoring sessions available? Are they available 24/7?*

Proctoring is available 20/7 – 20 hours a day / 7 days a week. Appointments are available starting from 7am CST (Central Standard Time) to 11:45 CST (Central Standard Time).
How much does a proctoring session cost?*

There is a $30 fee for each proctored exam session scheduled.

So why take issue when someone points out yor own policy?
Okay editing this on another page it says the increase 39 to 49 covers the Protoring so which is true?

[scorched]

So I got my reference for the $49 which included the proctoring from Burck Smith's posting, 6th paragraph.

StraighterLine

Here is the quote from that page:
We have and will institute a number of changes to demonstrate this. Starting on November 1st, the per-course price will rise from $39 to $49 and all courses will include a proctoring session (currently $30 a la carte). The price will not rise for those students purchasing $399 or $999 packages.