Experience with Sophia Learning

Sophia is another learning platform on which you can take ACE-accredited courses to expedite your degree at the UoPeople. The platform is subscription-based, and you pay $99 per month. You can complete as many classes as you want during that period. Nevertheless, you can only take two classes simultaneously. I completed 8 courses at Sophia Learning within 30 days. There was a Black Friday deal going on when I subscribed, and I only paid $79. There is always a sale going on during the holiday season, so I suggest subscribing during that part of the year to avail the best discount.

There are two types of courses at Sophia, courses with Touchstones and courses without Touchstones. The courses without Touchstone have Challenges and Milestones only. Touchstones are basically like written assignments and projects that take a while to get graded by the instructors/Learning Coaches of Sophia. In contrast, the ones without Touchstones are snappier and easier to finish. 

The courses at Sophia are very compact and concise, some of which you can complete within days. Sophia provides reading material and video lectures, which are to the point without going into any unnecessary details or complexities. Each unit in Sophia's courses has Challenges followed by a Milestone. Challenges are like short Graded Quizzes with 5-6 questions at most, with no timer. Milestones are like midterm exams with 10-20 questions with 1-2 hours allotted to you. You can only progress forward in a Sophia course once you complete the Challenges and Milestones. After you complete all that, there is always a final Milestone with 20-25 questions. Sophia is very generous when it comes to the allotted time. It’s always over 1-2 hrs for mere 20-25 questions. Challenges and Milestones count toward your final grade at Sophia, but their practice counterparts don’t. Once you complete a course at Sophia, you can get your transcript from Credly within minutes, contrary to days at Saylor Academy.

The courses at Sophia aren’t proctored, but use Keyboard Biometrics technology to capture and verify your identity through your typing pattern. I don’t know exactly how it works, as I always ethically took my Challenges and Milestones. Nonetheless, as per my understanding, Sophia builds up your profile through your clicks and keystrokes to verify that the student isn’t cheating. Sophia also have you type a text before a Milestone to identify you through your typing patterns.

Final thoughts, Sophia is a more polished, user-friendly, and easier-to-learn platform than Saylor. The material is concise, the videos are engaging, and the tests are not so difficult. All in all, Sophia is an excellent way to accelerate your degree. The only caveat is that you can’t jump straight to the final like Saylor, and the platform is missing many key courses that Saylor offers. I completed 8 courses at Sophia, but only decided to transfer 4 to the UoPeople, as I didn’t wish too many credits to be displayed on my degree.