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Solas Online courses, waste of time?

  • 06-08-2014 5:28pm
    #1
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭[Deleted User]


    Has anyone had experience of the online courses run by Solas (Fás)?

    I signed up for the CIW Internet Business Associate course thinking it looked interesting and useful. It's a 14 week online course and first impressions have been absolutely awful.

    Needlessly drawn out procedures on the eCollege website and confusing systems that make the whole thing infuriating to get through. The Induction Module required sitting through three short courses on 'workstation safety', composed of 20-30 short video slides of approximately 1 minutes duration that couldn't be skipped, and followed by a series of arbitrary questions you have to get right to progress through or go through the whole video again. One of these modules was literally about the correct use of a chair!

    Then I got to this 'lesson plan' stage where you're supposed to enter a date by which to have each of the lesson objectives done. There's 14 weeks and 6-8 'lessons' in each one, which means you have to fill out a date on a form over 100 times!

    It's so badly designed from a user's perspective, I can't see myself continuing with this for 14 weeks let alone getting some useful skills out of it.

    Has anyone had a similar experience? I'd love to get more feedback.
    Tagged:


Comments

  • #2
    Iranoutofideas
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,083 ✭✭✭Iranoutofideas


    Forest Grump wrote: »
    Has anyone had experience of the online courses run by Solas (Fás)?

    I signed up for the CIW Internet Business Associate course thinking it looked interesting and useful. It's a 14 week online course and first impressions have been absolutely awful.

    Needlessly drawn out procedures on the eCollege website and confusing systems that make the whole thing infuriating to get through. The Induction Module required sitting through three short courses on 'workstation safety', composed of 20-30 short video slides of approximately 1 minutes duration that couldn't be skipped, and followed by a series of arbitrary questions you have to get right to progress through or go through the whole video again. One of these modules was literally about the correct use of a chair!

    Then I got to this 'lesson plan' stage where you're supposed to enter a date by which to have each of the lesson objectives done. There's 14 weeks and 6-8 'lessons' in each one, which means you have to fill out a date on a form over 100 times!

    It's so badly designed from a user's perspective, I can't see myself continuing with this for 14 weeks let alone getting some useful skills out of it.

    Has anyone had a similar experience? I'd love to get more feedback.

    Have endured the Induction Module for another eCollege course and I am already losing the will to live.

    It is shocking. Dire stuff altogether. 30 minutes or so of a video slide on how to use a chair. Jesus H. Christ.


  • #3
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users Posts: 25,656 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    Just wait 'til you get into the workforce and have the H&S woman lecturing you in person about how to use your chair, and watching you to see if you're doing it properly!


  • #4
    Iranoutofideas
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,083 ✭✭✭Iranoutofideas


    Mrs OBumble wrote: »
    Just wait 'til you get into the workforce and have the H&S woman lecturing you in person about how to use your chair, and watching you to see if you're doing it properly!

    kill me now


  • #5
    designbydan
    Registered Users Posts: 181 ✭✭designbydan


    Iranoutofideas wrote: »
    Have endured the Induction Module for another eCollege course and I am already losing the will to live.

    It is shocking. Dire stuff altogether. 30 minutes or so of a video slide on how to use a chair. Jesus H. Christ.

    I (was due to) start an e-course last week for project management, I just can't bring myself to actually start it yet though for the exact reason above. The next module after introduction is CV preparation. Another thing which has nothing to do with the course itself.

    I feel like I'm wasting my time before I've even started


  • #6
    realthbr
    Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭realthbr


    Iranoutofideas wrote: »
    Have endured the Induction Module for another eCollege course and I am already losing the will to live.

    It is shocking. Dire stuff altogether. 30 minutes or so of a video slide on how to use a chair. Jesus H. Christ.

    lol I sat through this too. I tried cheering myself up by thinking "All those fools in their jobs don't know where Zone 1,2, & 3 is in their work space"


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  • #7
    _Brian
    Registered Users Posts: 18,468 ✭✭✭✭_Brian


    Mrs OBumble wrote: »
    Just wait 'til you get into the workforce and have the H&S woman lecturing you in person about how to use your chair, and watching you to see if you're doing it properly!

    I dont miss that one !!


  • #8
    gandalf
    Registered Users Posts: 26,458 ✭✭✭✭gandalf


    Ah good old FAS, new name same old ****e!


  • #9
    DangerMousse
    Registered Users Posts: 4 ✭DangerMousse


    Looking at the Support/FAQ a lot of these courses seem to be from Skillsoft, but theres probably a bunch of outsourced companies providing the courses. I doubt, that FAS/Welfare made any of them.


  • #10
    Isabella Proud Ankle
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,268 ✭✭✭✭ Isabella Proud Ankle


    I got through the induction and lessons planffor pmbok And stopped.

    I did prince 2 through loughlinstown. A day a week for 5 weeks with 2 exams.
    It was worth doing.


  • #11
    Mr. Loverman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,001 ✭✭✭Mr. Loverman


    If you have money you can spend on a course, I would highly recommend you stick to courses from colleges with a famous name. It's a much better investment of your time and money.


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  • #12
    doc11
    Closed Accounts Posts: 532 ✭✭✭doc11


    Mr. Loverman wrote: »
    If you have money you can spend on a course, I would highly recommend you stick to courses from colleges with a famous name. It's a much better investment of your time and money.

    What do you mean? ucd smurfit mba or do you mean going to private colleges for IT certifications. Do private colleges have better braindumps/preps?


  • #13
    Mr. Loverman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,001 ✭✭✭Mr. Loverman


    doc11 wrote: »
    What do you mean? ucd smurfit mba or do you mean going to private colleges for IT certifications. Do private colleges have better braindumps/preps?

    I have a post grad from Stanford. I did it online rather than attend classes. It was difficult (especially being online and no classmate support) but it was worth it in the end. It totally makes me stand out from the crowd.

    Most universities offer some sort of distance learning course.


  • #14
    Iranoutofideas
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,083 ✭✭✭Iranoutofideas


    I just want to reiterate again how shockingly bad eCollege courses are. Correction, maybe not the course itself but rather the user interface. The design is appallingly unfriendly and laid out in the most confusing way possible. Countless pointless emails and password changes, nonsense induction modules, the aforementioned learning plan which seems counterintuitive to the point of an online course (ie flexibility).

    This whole thing is a disaster.


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