05-18-2021, 05:58 PM
Provider: Saylor
Course: CS402: Computer Communications and Networks
This course is ACE-recommended again as of a few weeks ago.
Course content: Links to numerous text and video resources, with self-assessments for each unit.
Final exam format: 52 questions, multiple-choice. The exams do not contain any of the more difficult question types present in the unit assessments.
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: The final exam questions were significantly easier than the unit quizzes, which is great because those were nearly impossible. The final exam was the same format and setup as the certificate exam, just with slightly modified questions. Definitely take the certificate exam as a practice for the direct credit final. The questions aren't the same, but they're often just asking from the opposite angle or wanting a related fact.
Final score: 73%, barely passed
Time taken on course: one weekend, just skimming through things I wasn't already familiar with
Familiarity with subject before course: Very familiar. I consider myself quite skilled in networking. I passed my Network+ certification several months ago with a great score.
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: I wholeheartedly agree with the 2018 review by camjenks. It seems that someone went on a Wikipedia bender to find factoids for questions instead of asking real network administrators. Many of the questions and answer choices left me scratching my head due to their nonsensical or confusing nature.
Many of the course and exam questions have little relevance to practical modern networking. This course dives deeply into minutia that nobody else does because it doesn't matter. Several topics covered on the exam were things that I've never seen anywhere in my experience or other exams/courses/readings.
There were copious amounts of grossly outdated topics. Seriously, token ring has been obsolete for decades and has no place on an exam in 2021.
At least one of the credit exam questions has a clearly wrong correct answer. I've emailed Saylor about that one. Several others had no appropriate answers or were just bad questions.
The only redeeming quality of this course is the price tag. I don't know if everything on Saylor is like this (this is my first course there), but I would definitely not recommend it.
1-10 Difficulty level: 8 - This thing is rough!
I took this as a refresher before taking the TESU CMP-354 TECEP. That wasn't a particularly great idea. Due to the above content issues, much of the material from this course was not relevant to the TECEP. I found the CMP-354 exam to be significantly easier and more basic compared to this course.
Course: CS402: Computer Communications and Networks
This course is ACE-recommended again as of a few weeks ago.
Course content: Links to numerous text and video resources, with self-assessments for each unit.
Final exam format: 52 questions, multiple-choice. The exams do not contain any of the more difficult question types present in the unit assessments.
Final exam content vs course content/practice exams: The final exam questions were significantly easier than the unit quizzes, which is great because those were nearly impossible. The final exam was the same format and setup as the certificate exam, just with slightly modified questions. Definitely take the certificate exam as a practice for the direct credit final. The questions aren't the same, but they're often just asking from the opposite angle or wanting a related fact.
Final score: 73%, barely passed
Time taken on course: one weekend, just skimming through things I wasn't already familiar with
Familiarity with subject before course: Very familiar. I consider myself quite skilled in networking. I passed my Network+ certification several months ago with a great score.
Pitfalls, high points, things others should know: I wholeheartedly agree with the 2018 review by camjenks. It seems that someone went on a Wikipedia bender to find factoids for questions instead of asking real network administrators. Many of the questions and answer choices left me scratching my head due to their nonsensical or confusing nature.
Many of the course and exam questions have little relevance to practical modern networking. This course dives deeply into minutia that nobody else does because it doesn't matter. Several topics covered on the exam were things that I've never seen anywhere in my experience or other exams/courses/readings.
There were copious amounts of grossly outdated topics. Seriously, token ring has been obsolete for decades and has no place on an exam in 2021.
At least one of the credit exam questions has a clearly wrong correct answer. I've emailed Saylor about that one. Several others had no appropriate answers or were just bad questions.
The only redeeming quality of this course is the price tag. I don't know if everything on Saylor is like this (this is my first course there), but I would definitely not recommend it.
1-10 Difficulty level: 8 - This thing is rough!
I took this as a refresher before taking the TESU CMP-354 TECEP. That wasn't a particularly great idea. Due to the above content issues, much of the material from this course was not relevant to the TECEP. I found the CMP-354 exam to be significantly easier and more basic compared to this course.
TESU Class of 2024 BSBA-CIS+GM, BSIT, ASNSM-CS+Math, AAS-GEN
Earned credits from Sophia, SDC, ASU ULC, TEEX, Microsoft, Strayer, TESU, Saylor, DSST, CLEP, CompTIA, StraighterLine, and others since starting in April 2020
Earned credits from Sophia, SDC, ASU ULC, TEEX, Microsoft, Strayer, TESU, Saylor, DSST, CLEP, CompTIA, StraighterLine, and others since starting in April 2020
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