Finally... Brightspace Confirmed for Fall 1

[bjcheung77]

I agree with everything... It's interesting though, I thought that with the proctoring, it'll be better at curving the cheaters. I still don't know how they would cheat as they are being recorded or whatever proctoring system they use... Anyways, there are always pros/cons for moving into different systems of learning.

[ss20ts]

I agree with everything... It's interesting though, I thought that with the proctoring, it'll be better at curving the cheaters.  I still don't know how they would cheat as they are being recorded or whatever proctoring system they use... Anyways, there are always pros/cons for moving into different systems of learning.

WGU has had lots of issues with cheaters even though we're proctored. And it's a live proctor. Doesn't stop people. All of these goofy things we have to show the proctor before we begin an exam is because someone was caught cheating. They added a search of your computer background functions. Why? Someone was cheating. Proctoring also costs $$$$. One way to help keep tuition in check is to stick to papers/projects. 

When I was at Amberton, I had a couple of classes with unproctored exams. They were all open book, but timed so you didn't have much time to search your notes or the textbook. It wasn't stress free, but a different type of stress than being proctored. We also had limited days to take the exams. It was like 2-3 days. You could take them whenever you wanted during the time it was open. You had to complete it though. Once you started it, it counted whether or not you finished it. You also didn't get multiple chances on an exam like WGU. UMPI could move to this, but it may be an accreditation issue. YourPace is CBE and Amberton is not. It's a typical semester based type program crammed into 10 weeks. They also have 2 different accreditation boards. All of the U of M system is now accredited instead of the individual universities which is a new concept and I think they're the first to do it - at least in their board.

[joshua27]

I agree with everything... It's interesting though, I thought that with the proctoring, it'll be better at curving the cheaters.  I still don't know how they would cheat as they are being recorded or whatever proctoring system they use... Anyways, there are always pros/cons for moving into different systems of learning.

WGU has had lots of issues with cheaters even though we're proctored. And it's a live proctor. Doesn't stop people. All of these goofy things we have to show the proctor before we begin an exam is because someone was caught cheating. They added a search of your computer background functions. Why? Someone was cheating. Proctoring also costs $$$$. One way to help keep tuition in check is to stick to papers/projects. 

When I was at Amberton, I had a couple of classes with unproctored exams. They were all open book, but timed so you didn't have much time to search your notes or the textbook. It wasn't stress free, but a different type of stress than being proctored. We also had limited days to take the exams. It was like 2-3 days. You could take them whenever you wanted during the time it was open. You had to complete it though. Once you started it, it counted whether or not you finished it. You also didn't get multiple chances on an exam like WGU. UMPI could move to this, but it may be an accreditation issue. YourPace is CBE and Amberton is not. It's a typical semester based type program crammed into 10 weeks. They also have 2 different accreditation boards. All of the U of M system is now accredited instead of the individual universities which is a new concept and I think they're the first to do it - at least in their board.

I like the idea of more project-based/paper-based finals as I got As in all of those at UMPI and ended up with Bs in both of my exam based classes.  That being said, I believe a good mixture of open book exams would also be beneficial with a fairly restrictive time limit.  The "real world" allows folks to google or brush up on a concept they may not have utilized recently so it's much more representative of life outside of the University.  With regard to business and accounting classes, I think exams are sometimes a better test of your retention of concepts.

Being totally honest, I felt like the SDC method is a much better "test" of whether you understand material or not.  That coming from someone who hates proctored exams and had a couple of bad experiences.  I really had to LEARN the material at SDC whereas at UMPI, had I chosen not to, I could have just skipped through and wrote the papers.  I certainly hope that the move to Brightspace is great for everyone still attending.  I would love to get a MBA at UMPI if they would ever offer it!

[dfrecore]

I agree with everything... It's interesting though, I thought that with the proctoring, it'll be better at curving the cheaters.  I still don't know how they would cheat as they are being recorded or whatever proctoring system they use... Anyways, there are always pros/cons for moving into different systems of learning.

WGU has had lots of issues with cheaters even though we're proctored. And it's a live proctor. Doesn't stop people. All of these goofy things we have to show the proctor before we begin an exam is because someone was caught cheating. They added a search of your computer background functions. Why? Someone was cheating. Proctoring also costs $$$$. One way to help keep tuition in check is to stick to papers/projects. 

When I was at Amberton, I had a couple of classes with unproctored exams. They were all open book, but timed so you didn't have much time to search your notes or the textbook. It wasn't stress free, but a different type of stress than being proctored. We also had limited days to take the exams. It was like 2-3 days. You could take them whenever you wanted during the time it was open. You had to complete it though. Once you started it, it counted whether or not you finished it. You also didn't get multiple chances on an exam like WGU. UMPI could move to this, but it may be an accreditation issue. YourPace is CBE and Amberton is not. It's a typical semester based type program crammed into 10 weeks. They also have 2 different accreditation boards. All of the U of M system is now accredited instead of the individual universities which is a new concept and I think they're the first to do it - at least in their board.

Back when I was first in college in the 80's, it was VERY common to pay someone to write a paper for you.  Cheating is not new, and it's not restricted to tests.  My kids both say that ChatGPT is writing all high school and college papers these days, the smart kids just know that they need to refine the output, and then change a few things to make it sound like they wrote the paper.  They figure it out in like 5 minutes.

[ss20ts]

Back when I was first in college in the 80's, it was VERY common to pay someone to write a paper for you.  Cheating is not new, and it's not restricted to tests.  My kids both say that ChatGPT is writing all high school and college papers these days, the smart kids just know that they need to refine the output, and then change a few things to make it sound like they wrote the paper.  They figure it out in like 5 minutes.

Professors are also using AI to check papers today so cheaters are often caught. UMPI also has Milestones so professors can see writing patterns. I've seen international students just submit work from ChatGPT and be expelled because it was clear that they didn't write a single word. Even more so when the work submitted literally doesn't make any sense. Most cheaters don't bother to rewrite anything to make it look legit. They're not that bright. You can't cheat your way through life. Eventually, you will get busted.

[klone]

Back when I was first in college in the 80's, it was VERY common to pay someone to write a paper for you.  Cheating is not new, and it's not restricted to tests.  My kids both say that ChatGPT is writing all high school and college papers these days, the smart kids just know that they need to refine the output, and then change a few things to make it sound like they wrote the paper.  They figure it out in like 5 minutes.

Professors are also using AI to check papers today so cheaters are often caught. UMPI also has Milestones so professors can see writing patterns. I've seen international students just submit work from ChatGPT and be expelled because it was clear that they didn't write a single word. Even more so when the work submitted literally doesn't make any sense. Most cheaters don't bother to rewrite anything to make it look legit. They're not that bright. You can't cheat your way through life. Eventually, you will get busted.

AI Detectors do not prove anything. If you write intelligently, you will be flagged for "AI". I had a buddy run multiple papers he wrote in high school through the most prominent AI Detector and it said his papers were "written" by AI. AI did not exist in the way it does today. There is no way to prove to AI wrote a paper, it is simply words on a document. I have even read stories of people getting falsely accused by professors because they used Grammerly to enhance their paper. It is unfortunate that many people rely on these tools to get through school, but there is no way against it at the moment. I am curious to see how Academia will counter this in the coming years.

[bjcheung77]

<sigh> I don't know how ChatGPT works really, when I query the thing on Bing, I get simple questions answered and that's it... I even asked "who is bjcheung77 on degreeforum.net", I also tried "who is bjcheung77 from degreeforum.net" and it won't give me anything concrete. It's strange, there was one time I created an account somewhere (forgot where) and it was using the older ChatGPT 3.5 or something, it gave me a bit of detail, concrete info of a few sentences at the very least! Maybe I should try out some ideas on how people do things on ChatGPT to know it better...

[Billiejo113]

<sigh> I don't know how ChatGPT works really, when I query the thing on Bing, I get simple questions answered and that's it... I even asked "who is bjcheung77 on degreeforum.net", I also tried "who is bjcheung77 from degreeforum.net" and it won't give me anything concrete.  It's strange, there was one time I created an account somewhere (forgot where) and it was using the older ChatGPT 3.5 or something, it gave me a bit of detail, concrete info of a few sentences at the very least!  Maybe I should try out some ideas on how people do things on ChatGPT to know it better...

I've used chatgpt to review and tweak my resume. I also use it for my menu planning, and grocery list. I've used it for letters of recommendations. Once you get the idea of how it works you can use it for all sorts of things.  You have to be careful because the information isn't always up to date or accurate. I've never used it for a class and don't plan on it.