Environment Protection
J. Francois Barnard – 14 November 2019
(This is an essay submitted to the Discussion Forum for ENVS 1301, Introduction to Environmental Sciences, for Week 1 of term 2, 2019 – 2020.)
I live in Africa, and for thirty years, our family owned a private nature reserve in the Limpopo Valley on the border with Zimbabwe. Protecting the environment is a topic close to my heart, and I despair when I see how we as Africans, mostly in ignorance, damage our beautiful continent.
UoPeople and the ProctorU Exam
J. Francois Barnard – 31 October 2019
I have just completed my three exams for term 1 of the 2019/20 academic year, and one of them was a “proctored” exam. If you are new to this terminology, a proctored exam is basically an exam you write under the supervision of a neutral person (the proctor) who ensures the identity of the test taker and the integrity of the test-taking environment.
UoPeople – How does the grading work?
J. Francois Barnard – 31 October 2019
Well, I thought that is such an obvious topic that we should not have to cover it. But when I first saw how the grading was done at UoPeople, I was amazed.
I grew up in South Africa, and here the grading worked more or less as follows:
UoPeople – Coping with exam stress
J. Francois Barnard – 22 October 2019
Exam time can be extremely stressful. Writing the exam online in a country where the internet and power grid are unstable is even more stressful. But if you are studying at UoPeople, one of the things you least have to worry about is the Moodle server.
UoPeople – Money and Payments
J. Francois Barnard – 22 October 2019
The University of the People gives its tuition away for free. The full-time staff contingent for a university with more than 20,000 students is tiny. (Editor's note in 2021: 75,000 students by now!) All the academic staff members (instructors) are volunteers.
The only money payable is a non-refundable registration fee of $60 and after that, a $100 (Editor' note in 2021: $120) assessment fee per course. So,