Pcnerd37's Blog

University of the People first impressions

Sep 12

pcnerd37school english, online learning, too easy, University of the People 1 Comment

Hey everybody!

I began classes at the new University of the People on Thursday and I thought I would give some first impressions based on what I have seen so far.  To start, it isn’t always easy to understand what people have to say because many of them are from countries all over the world who don’t have English as their first language.  Most of the time I can figure out what they are trying to say but it isn’t easy.  Considering good English skills were required to attend the school and an essay written in English to get accepted, I am kind of surprised at how poorly some write it.

The user interface for students isn’t bad but it could be better.  Having 3 different message boards with various scope but similar names is kind of confusing.  It would be nice if they used some more user friendly message board software anyway but for a school that is just starting out, I suppose I can’t be too picky.  It would be nice to know which users are students and which are instructors and staff without them having to say so though.

This week has seemed a bit easy but I suppose that is to be expected for the first week of classes and one class that is an introduction to the online learning environment.  Honestly, I could do with much more than 2 classes since I could probably accomplish a weeks worth of work in a couple of hours.  Hopefully the work load picks up in the coming weeks.   Speaking of the workload, apparently we are expected to keep some sort of journal about the school work that we do and our thoughts about it and stuff.  Personally, I find the idea kind of stupid.  If I want to write down my thoughts and stuff, that is what this blog is for.  I think it is even more dumb that it is graded by teachers.

So far I can’t speak too highly of the school but things are just getting started and we are still in the get to know you phase so hopefully in the next week or two things will pick up.  I think this school has a lot of promise and I hope it delivers on that promise.

-pcnerd37