"My UoPeople Story" by Doug (A Colleague)

My UoPeople Story

Online education at UoPeople is affordable, flexible and achievable, you can read more from the report from one of UoPeople students who got accepted into University and started fulfilling his academic dream. A dream can be fulfilled at UoPeople and a dream should be a load or burden, it can actually be fulfilled and UoPeople is that great helping hand you need. Read the testimony from Doug:

“Every now and then I’m asked to document my experience as a University of the People student. As I was writing it down this morning, I thought it might be helpful to post on this blog as well. My experience at the University of the People has been better than I ever could have imagined.

After graduating high school in 2003, I made two attempts to earn a degree. In both cases I was only able to complete a few semesters before having to drop out for personal reasons. I felt like a failure and to make things worse I had racked up nearly $20,000 in student loan debt. At that point in my life, I felt as though I would never be able to get a higher education and earn a degree that would open up new doors, personally and professionally.

In 2011 I read an article online about University of the People. UoPeople claimed to be the world’s first tuition-free online university. I was skeptical – a tuition-free college education sounded too good to be true. But the idea stuck with me and from time to time I would search the internet for any news or reviews about UoPeople. After seeing a few more articles about how UoPeople had partnered with reputable partners like Hewlett-Packard and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation I decided it was worth the $50 application fee to take a risk and apply for the first term in 2012. I was accepted shortly thereafter.”

UoPeople- Yammer. Follow UoPeople on Yammer and be more informed as much as you want

UoPeople Yammer Network: 

Yammer is a very interesting social platform, the pages are simple and very clean and light, it has very interesting components and it is colorful also. The Yammer/UoPeople platform is customized for UoPeople students, alumni and instructors. The management of UoPeople has a good usage of the Yammer network. The Yammer-UoPeople platform was an answer to a long awaited social networking and communication facilitation. It is a good way to socialize and keep up with colleagues at UoPeople, especially those colleagues that are in another Program of study or in a different course. 

UoPeople Yammer network has lots of features similar to that of facebook, Yammer has the ability to have followers and ability to follow other colleagues just as available in Twitter. Making friends is easy on Yammer because the components are easily accessed. The color theme used throughout the Yammer network is also very simple and very attractive, so that it compels one's engagement and participation.

It is an achievement for UoPeople, and there are still lots of things that are achievable for UoPeople students that are using the Yammer-UoPeople network. For example the career center in Yammer is a place where students find internship programs and get listing of available job opportunities, many students have been assisted through this means.

Below is a capture of Yammer platform:

Response from Prof Michael Kessler as regards my UPAA application May 2015

Prof. Michael Kessler as regards my UPAA application

 

A response to the application for the UPPA role in UoPeople:


Dear Kolawole,

Thank you for applying for the position of UPAA. I and Advisor Sarkees were impressed with your application and we would like to conduct a skype call with you this coming Sunday at 8:15 am Eastern Standard Time(New York) to discuss the particulars of the position with you.

Please let us know if you are available then. If you are not, please indicate a day and time that you would be available. A call morning time in the Eastern Time Zone would be preferable.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Best,
Michael Kessler

This is just one of those things that UoPeople means, a collaborative culture of sharing. Students are encouraged to take leadership responsibility, for example students can opt to become student ambassador. This way they would be imbibing leadership culture and a sense of social impact. Succeeding is good, however, producing similar success in others is also beautiful. You too can become part of that story and not just an observer. The first step is to apply to become a UoPeople student at the UoPeople website.

UPAA in University of the People is acronym for: University Peer Assessment Advisor.

Another meeting time was later concluded on because of issues with Skype availability at my end. There are no end to the possibilities that serving UoPeople can bring, becoming an advisor is one of such opportunities. I like assisting other people find their bearing, and forge ahead in their endeavors. We have agreed on a voice teleconference on telephone, that is a more realistic arrangement. 

The University of the People is people focused and has a socialist side to their vision, mission and corporate agenda, this explains why there are so many well-meaning individuals supporting the UoPeople vision. It is a long term vision, it is a sustainable vision, it is a needed vision and it is developing vision. One of the present cruxes is the wide availability of MOOC (Massive open online courses), however, UoPeople excels above these in many ways.  President Shai Reshef placed exceptional value on UoPeople and mentioned that University of the People is not a MOOC but an online university.

Reiterating about online studies

Online Studies


Kolawole Oshiyemi

Studying at UoPeople for me has been an issue of a day at a time, abiding by a course learning and submission schedule that works for you. Online learning is a great experience especially because it is peer to peer and self-paced, these qualities give it a life form and makes learning flexible. It is not that difficult, it is challenging rather in the sense that hurdles have to be overcome. 

Here in Nigeria, there was a time phase I had internet access issues, but that is no more, I had to resolve that by having different internet service providers. Improvising with alternative sources and options was one strategy that also enabled me to win in each Term. Talking about rewards of online studies, the rewards are endless and enormous, it is almost as afar as your eyes can see. 

Talking about the interesting aspects, you have to make it interesting for yourself, you have to socialize. It is your responsibility to make your studies enjoyable and fun. For example if you don't like using laptops and reading online and stuffs like that online institution is not your best choice. I excite myself by socializing with my colleagues on Yammer and directly in the UoPeople Moodle. I build a strong friend list with students and instructors. I have met UoPeople prospective students in Nigeria as a student ambassador. I have met the President Shai Reshef in Abuja during world economic forum. You have to engage yourself in the school, with the school and for the school, that is how to get going. 

And once you maintain a good grade your interest can also be hyped. Talking about motivation, motivation is a relative concept, what motivates me can demotivate you, what motivates me is a certification I can hold in my hands whether it is accredited or not. Believing in the school goals personally will motivate you, before the UoPeople got accreditation I told everyone around me that they will and they eventually did. Trust the community you belong and see their goals as part of yours and achieve your goals in theirs. I take two courses each term and three few times, to achieve balance you have to sometimes make a sacrifice. To succeed at UoPeople demand some sacrifice, if you achieve balance while doing so, then that is good and better. 

It is something I am still managing and so far I am coping. Coping is a better word to use, but God makes everything possible. I have dropped some employment because of UoPeople before, presently I manage to keep a job and study along, I grew overtime to learn how to do that.

You can read about the proof of UoPeople accreditation in the DEAC website, and you can join Yammer when you have become a Major student at UoPeople, however, the place to start is to apply to become a student today.

Congrats to all UoPeople-BAV 2014/2015 Interns

UoPeople- BAV 2014/2015 Interns 

UoPeople-Brand Asset Valuators (BAV) Consulting Internship completion letter/recognition was sent to me in April 2015.

It came handy, presently I am applying to be a University Peer Assessment Advisor, my application has been accepted, all I have to do is concrete everything with  a meeting with the AAVO (Academic Advising Virtual Office) leadership.

I know it is going to be an exciting work for me, I already assist in performing ambassadorial role for UoPeople, especially for Nigerian prospective UoPeople students. It is very nice that the issue of payment that prospective students once complained about is now resolved to a great degree, especially with the re-adoption of Nigeria as a Paypal listed countries. Nigeria is a privileged country, any business that refuses Nigerians in this present time, is actually losing a large market share in Africa. 

For example Nigerian UoPeople students are a great percentage of the UoPeople student body. Information about UoPeople got to Nigerians on time and interpersonal communication has increased the word about UoPeople in Nigeria. Although I got to find about UoPeople via online search and browsing for academic listing sites, so many people learned about University of the people through this same method. You too can join the community of world learners by applying to become a student at UoPeople.