There are as many classes out there now as there are stars in the night sky. Some are easy and take a day. Some take weeks, months and even years.
The free Sophia classes are easy. Sophia also has what many on this site believe to be the most user-friendly course interface. It is really well-done. That's why they give a few credits away for free. People take those classes, fall in love and then pay Sophia's higher price.
I just finished the art history classes at Sophia and they take some thought. Sophia's niche is to provide introductory courses in a game-style, spoon-fed interface. Study.com and straighterline are meat and potatoes providers. They have the core classes that people here need to complete the bulk of a degree. They have harder classes and more clunky interfaces.
There are also incredibly difficult alternative classes. I took the now defunct edX differential equations classes and I pulled all-nighters and had to beg the teaching assistant for a chance to earn an extra tenth of a percent.
This kind of degree is really a lot of fun and it frequently requires problem-solving capabilities. I think that is a great feature of alternative degrees.
Also, I wouldn't worry too much about whether courses are at an appropriate academic level.
It is certainly true that these online courses are not equal in difficulty to classes I took during my initial undergrad. at the University of Michigan. However, that is not a great comparison. I was aiming for a four-point gpa at a sometimes costly high level university. Of course it was going to be difficult. Of course, I ended up teaching at a school with staff who had earned degrees at local colleges, Christian colleges, etc. I feel that the online classes are on par with a lot of bricks and mortar schools out there. Also, alternative credits generally come in as pass/fail. Lots of bricks and mortar schools have pass/fail options. But it means that online degrees approximate C level achievement at mid to lower level bricks and mortar institutions. That is good enough for most jobs in America.
Of course, there are also high level online providers like Harvard Extension, MITx and others.
We live in a great world.
The free Sophia classes are easy. Sophia also has what many on this site believe to be the most user-friendly course interface. It is really well-done. That's why they give a few credits away for free. People take those classes, fall in love and then pay Sophia's higher price.
I just finished the art history classes at Sophia and they take some thought. Sophia's niche is to provide introductory courses in a game-style, spoon-fed interface. Study.com and straighterline are meat and potatoes providers. They have the core classes that people here need to complete the bulk of a degree. They have harder classes and more clunky interfaces.
There are also incredibly difficult alternative classes. I took the now defunct edX differential equations classes and I pulled all-nighters and had to beg the teaching assistant for a chance to earn an extra tenth of a percent.
This kind of degree is really a lot of fun and it frequently requires problem-solving capabilities. I think that is a great feature of alternative degrees.
Also, I wouldn't worry too much about whether courses are at an appropriate academic level.
It is certainly true that these online courses are not equal in difficulty to classes I took during my initial undergrad. at the University of Michigan. However, that is not a great comparison. I was aiming for a four-point gpa at a sometimes costly high level university. Of course it was going to be difficult. Of course, I ended up teaching at a school with staff who had earned degrees at local colleges, Christian colleges, etc. I feel that the online classes are on par with a lot of bricks and mortar schools out there. Also, alternative credits generally come in as pass/fail. Lots of bricks and mortar schools have pass/fail options. But it means that online degrees approximate C level achievement at mid to lower level bricks and mortar institutions. That is good enough for most jobs in America.
Of course, there are also high level online providers like Harvard Extension, MITx and others.
We live in a great world.
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