Ed4Credit is Gone

[indigoshuffle]

It’s really sad when money messes up nice things.

I know, but they were just too expensive. Many folks, like myself found a way around SL's 1 month membership simply by doing pre-reading of the textbook prior to even signing up. Pre-reading even works well for brick and mortar courses. If Sophia doesn't do something about their prices, they'll soon find themselves in the same boat as Ed4Credit, which sucks.

[jsd]

Sophia has funding from Capella University, I'm sure they're set for a while.

[indigoshuffle]

Sophia has funding from Capella University, I'm sure they're set for a while.

Thank God because I really do like their format.

[Learnfordegree]

It’s really sad when money messes up nice things.

I know, but they were just too expensive. Many folks, like myself found a way around SL's 1 month membership simply by doing pre-reading of the textbook prior to even signing up. Pre-reading even works well for brick and mortar courses. If Sophia doesn't do something about their prices, they'll soon find themselves in the same boat as Ed4Credit, which sucks.

I have the same issue with SL regarding the 1 month time constraint. Could you please explain how to pre-read the text book in SL before the course is activated. I thought you can only access the text book when the course is active. Did you mean pre-read the textbook from outside sources such as buying a used book etc. I really need to get couple of courses done through SL, such as Intro to Communication, Business Statistics and possibly American Gov. Already have a month’s subscription paid for but not activated (Previously lost one month subscription without completing a course).

[Merlin]

It’s really sad when money messes up nice things.

I know, but they were just too expensive. Many folks, like myself found a way around SL's 1 month membership simply by doing pre-reading of the textbook prior to even signing up. Pre-reading even works well for brick and mortar courses. If Sophia doesn't do something about their prices, they'll soon find themselves in the same boat as Ed4Credit, which sucks.

I have the same issue with SL regarding the 1 month time constraint. Could you please explain how to pre-read the text book in SL before the course is activated. I thought you can only access the text book when the course is active. Did you mean pre-read the textbook from outside sources such as buying a used book etc. I really need to get couple of courses done through SL, such as Intro to Communication, Business Statistics and possibly American Gov. Already have a month’s subscription paid for but not activated (Previously lost one month subscription without completing a course).

They're referring to things like buying an e-text copy of the textbook in advance or finding a used copy for sale. There is no way to access the textbooks before you've paid for/started the courses at SL.

[Learnfordegree]

Thank you Merlin. I looked into availability of used books and it looks good! Thanks again for your help.

[indigoshuffle]

Thank you Merlin. I looked into availability of used books and it looks good! Thanks again for your help.

You cannot access the book before you purchase the course, no. I'm going to go deep here so hang on. 

Most textbooks for general elective courses are written to a standard. Each publisher has to hit on the same topics. If you open up three general chemistry textbooks and look at the table of contents, you will see what I'm saying. It's really all the same stuff, just explained differently.

Where they are competing for your dollars is HOW they explain the material.

The books are written to a standard because they all need to prepare you for standardized testing. For example, the MCAT biology can be studied for using almost ANY college level biology textbook. This is a fact, because every university or community college in the country will use different textbooks, but they all prepare people for the same exam. So my point is, just grab a textbook for cheap. Let's say you're taking General Chemistry. Buy any cheap $1 textbook from 1-10 years ago. Next, you can get the StraighterLine syllabus for Gen Chem on the SL website. Now you will compare the topics in the syllabus with the topics in your textbook, and you should do this BEFORE you study. It's that simple.
First break down the syllabus and use any cheap textbook and you'll be fine. Next you need to take high quality notes while you read. Do the chapter exercises and practice problems in the textbook and do more practice online and in other textbooks. If you are a full time student, you can get through an entire textbook in 1-2 weeks. Next, you sign up for the SL course. It's that simple. If you want to save a lot of money, you can pre-read 2-4 textbooks and sign up for all of those courses in a 1 month membership block.

[Learnfordegree]

Thank you Indigoshuffle for the detailed info. I appreciate your help. The wealth of knowledge and info through this forum is amazing and the willingness to share with other students is commendable.