1/11/17 – Library & Free Audiobooks

I love to read. It’s one of my favorite hobbies. I usually read 20-30 books a year. Recently, a friend pointed out that our local library allows you to listen to Audiobooks using an app on your phone.

I hadn’t used my library card in almost a decade, so I had to get a new one. It proved to be super easy. I just walked into a local branch on my lunch break and had a new card in my hands in about 5 minutes.

With my new library card I downloaded the Hoopla app to my phone and started browsing for books.

The first book I decided to listen to was Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I’ve read tons of business and inspirational books before, but somehow missed this one along the way.

Using the audiobook, I’m able to listen to the book while I’m getting ready in the morning, on my way to and from work, while I’m doing household chores, and on my lunch break. In other words, learning something during times when I might otherwise be listening to music or worse the TV.

In the past, I’ve used Audible.com which is a great service, but why pay for something if you can get it for free.

Using the audiobook format, I can easily put away a 400-500 page book in about a week. You’d be amazed at how much you can learn and, more importantly, how much your perspective can be changed listening to Audiobooks while you’re doing things around the house or driving.

1/10/17 – Happy Birthday to Me

Good morning. Today’s my birthday and I started it by getting up at 4:25am to take the final for American Government before work. I got a 90% on the final and 89.5% on the course as a whole.

I’ll probably take the rest of the day off from studying/exams, but who knows I might try to sneak a little bit in.

That’s 23 credits if you count Beginning Algebra, 20 without, and a fair chunk of TEEX 101 done in 10 days. I know I won’t be able to keep up this pace through all 120 credits, but I’m glad to get off to a fast start.

1/9/17 – Straighterline – Intro to Religion

The UCard continues to pay off. I saved another $8.75 on ProctorU scheduling my Intro to Religion final exam with only 50 minutes notice.

I passed the final exam with a 92% giving me a 94% for the entire class.

My first impression of Straighterline was very good compared to Saylor. I like the format, the ebook, and breezed through Intro to Religion (in fairness, this is a topic I know a lot about already).

I signed up for American Government and found another coupon code, albeit a smaller one. $158.56 for the class and ebook for this one. (Not complaining – probably cheaper than even the textbook for a brick and mortar college, also it includes the cost of proctoring the final exam).

More on that and continued progress on TEEX tomorrow.

1/8/17 – Straighterline and more TEEX

There are so. many. questions. in the TEEX cybersecurity modules. Can’t complain too much though because it will be 6 free credits. As of right now, I’ve got 2 down and 4 to go.

I took a break from TEEX and signed up for my first Straighterline course – Intoduction to Religions.

The cost should have been a $99 monthly fee plus $49 for the course plus $87.71 for the ebook, but I used a $50 internet coupon to pay $185.71 for everything.

The format is the best I’ve seen yet. I’m breezing through the content and although I’m not timing myself, I bet I will complete the whole course in around 3-4 hours.

Tomorrow – Intro to Religion Final Exam.

On a side note – If I cancel my Saylor subscription can I still transfer my credits later without any hassle? Does anyone know?

 

1/7/17 – TEEX Cybersecurity 101

Knocking out some more free credits… TEEX Cybersecurity 101. Each module has a pretest, the material and a post test. 

So far, I’ve been able to skip the pretest, skim the material and pass the post test. I’ve scored anywhere from 71% and 94% and haven’t failed one yet. If I get enough time tomorrow, I’ll try to polish off one of 101 and maybe even 201. 

101, 201, 301 combine for 6 college credits for free. Then on to Straighterline… More tomorrow. 

1/6/17 – ALEKS Intro to Stats FAIL

I studied and studied and took my time and still only managed a 51% on the ALEKS Statistics Assessment. I think at this point I need to pass on this one and come back to it or look to get my stats credits somewhere else. It seems like Saylor will keep asking you the same type of question over and over even if you clearly don’t understand that specific concept. At 51%, my assessment didn’t even ask me questions on over a quarter of the pie. The nature of the test seems harder than it needs to be and not something you would experience in a real classroom setting.

I did some more research and it sounds like a mix of Straighterline and CLEPs will be next in line for me.

I’ve started making a spreadsheet of all the credits I need and where they could/should come from. The weather this weekend is looking like snow with a side of snow, so hopefully I can knock out 6-9 credits by Sunday to be somewhere around 20-23 after my first week. Wish me luck!

 

1/5/17 – Intro to Statistics

Riding a wave of confidence I decided to go straight into Introduction to Statistics on ALEKS without studying to round out my math credits. I’ve never taken a statistics course. The initial assessment felt so easy and I felt like I crushed it.

I scored a 27% percent. Sounds like I’ll need to do some extensive studying and take another crack at it.

Also, I started Introduction to Financial Accounting at Saylor. I took the practice exam and scored a 58%. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the course material for the Saylor courses is very scattered and too exhaustive.

I hear people like Straighterline, CLEP and DSSTs better. I’m more interested in getting my degree quickly than for a rock-bottom price, so I may consider switching where I’m getting the credits from. Anyone have any first-hand advice on this?

1/4/17 – College Algebra & Trigonometry

In the spirit of knocking out any potential math credits for $19.95 total, I decided to take College Algebra and Trigonometry today on ALEKS. This leaves only Intro to Statistics.

College Algebra wasn’t that much harder than the last two algebra assessments, but Trig was tough. I managed an 84% on the initial assessment for College Algebra. Trig, on the other hand, required a lot more reading and studying, but I still managed a 73% on the initial assessment.

Math is a strong subject for me, but I still can’t wait for it to be over.

I have a bunch more Saylor classes I can take, but I will need to start researching some other options like CLEP, DSST and Straighterline. More on that in the next few days.

If you throw out Beginning Algebra, that’s 14 credits in 4 days. Not a bad start.

 

1/3/17 – Saylor, ProctorU, and Principles of Management

So my plan was to take another ALEKS assessment, but the other two are still showing “Pending Organization Review” in ACE. I decided to hold off from taking another assessment until those are showing complete.

In the meantime, I decided to take an exam through Saylor Academy. They offer all of their content for free, the only thing you need to pay for is to have an exam proctored for credit. ($25 per exam)

Since I’m currently in management, I decided to go for Principles of Management. The reading for this class is so voluminous I can’t imagine how long it would take someone to read it all. If it wasn’t on a topic I was already comfortable with, I’m not sure I would have gone forward with it, and might have selected another exam.

To prepare, I took the quizzes at the end of each section, took the practice exam (72%) and then decided to take the proctored exam right away while it was fresh in my mind.

To take the proctored exam, you need to go to ProctorU. Again, I was able to sign up in a few minutes on my phone, but it might be easier from a desktop or laptop.

I splurged for the additional $25 “fast track” since I plan to take a bunch of exams there and have a very busy schedule. I created a “Ucard” in a few minutes to make life easier and scheduled my exam for 8:30pm. I was done by 9:10pm. I would say that I nailed the theory of the content, but didn’t know some of the management pioneers by name as well as some of the acronyms.

I scored a 71%. Made it, barely, but 3 more credits down for $50 and maybe 3-4 hours. Hopefully more ALEKS tomorrow.

 

1/2/17 – Ethics 312, The Institutes

Since I am ahem, frugal, I wanted to stick with free or nearly free sources of credit as long as possible. It would be nice to knock out a semester’s worth of credit spending only $19.95.

The Institutes provides a free learning module on Ethics and the CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) Code of Professional Conduct. There are two options – I chose the free one, as I am not looking for CE (Continuing Education) credit.

It is a ton of information and not exactly a breeze, but I was able to get through it in about four to five hours and pass with 42 of 50 correct answers (84%). There isn’t much of a way around it other than to read through all the modules and take the test at the end.

When you’re finished, don’t forget to head back over to ACE and request credit for the test.

Two days & three exams down and I’ve only spent $19.95. Tomorrow – more ALEKS.