Non-Proctored SL, SDC, Sophia, Saylor courses?

[shadowgem]

I can do do the Sophia because it feels safe. I just don’t like anyone monitoring

Why do lab courses don’t have proctoring? Are they harder and not transferable or cost more?

Almost every provider and college will have some form of proctoring in place to ensure academic integrity is met for online or alternative education students. The only time this may be an exception would be if the course/degree program was project based (think labs, written English papers, some competency based degree completion program courses, ect). These options are more rare so you may have more challenges to face completing a degree from scratch this way. It's also important to know that you may even encounter required proctoring when you take your midterms/final exams at the school you are completing a degree with. So becoming comfortable with the process before you are working on your graded credits at the school may be helpful as well.


Also consider, that it is just as important to the student as it is to the school that they can document and prove they earned their college credits and degree legitimately. The last thing you want to happen after spending time and money to complete a course is to have the integrity of those courses called into question and not applied to your degree program. You can read this forum and learn that this exact scenario did happen when one provider (Shmoop) decided that no proctoring/optional proctoring was ..good enough. The problem is schools have disagreed and many students lost the ability to use those courses in their degree program. Keep this in mind and avoid a problem like this by using providers that align themselves with the same academic integrity that a school will and should expect. 


There is no reason to be nervous about a proctor. The only thing a proctor will care about is that the student taking the exam is the student earning the credit and that the student follows all policies in relation to the specific exam and does not cheat. Proctoring is one of the main reasons earning alternative credit is possible and accepted. And it is the safest way to ensure your credits will be accepted.


All that said there are many forms of proctoring and one form or another may or may not be more comfortable from one student to the next. Some providers and schools use a locked down browser which may or may not require a webcam. Some providers utilize biometric proctoring which will monitor the students keystrokes throughout the course and may request a webcam be turned on if it detects the student "changes" in order to verify the same student that started the course is completing the course. Other providers use a software called secure software via RPNow. The student is recorded using their webcam during proctored exams and that recording is later reviewed by someone to ensure there were no exam violations. Two major advantages to this type of proctoring is that there is no need to schedule with a live person which allows you to complete an exam on demand and you don't have to deal with talking to anyone directly. Others will connect you to a live proctor (like ProctorU) who will assist you in setting up your exam and answer questions that you may have as to what is allowed and tell you right then and there if there could be a potential violation. This can be really useful if the exam instructions are unclear and you don't have to wait to have your exam session reviewed so you know all is well as soon as your exam is completed. Some providers allow you to choose and have your choice of proctor approved. This can be helpful if you require special accommodations or don't want to "let someone into your home" via webcam. 

However, it is important to note that you will not be able to transfer all of your courses from any one provider. There are limits to the amount of credits that can be transferred by one provider and specific requirements for each degree (UL credits/courses) that not all providers offer as well. And as I mentioned earlier, your school very well may require some form of live proctoring for the required courses you take through them. In other words, the choice may not always be available to you.

With that in mind, I would suggest that instead of researching how to avoid using proctoring or which courses do not require proctoring, I would encourage you to research what is the most comfortable form of proctoring for you. Then look for course options that use that type of proctoring. Another option would be to choose a school program that is competency/project based and does not require proctoring. These programs usually require a lot more research/writing and may not allow as many alternative forms of credits to be transferred, so it may or may not take more time or be more costly.