Instacert forums - must subscribe to Instacert

The flashcards are a great idea and business. Locking a forum to the very users that made it what it is, is absurd. Selling user created content back to users is asinine.

 

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LOL I'm not that easy to ruffle Sowak.
I'm happy to share for free, if it helps good- if not- ok. Everything I gained from that board was given freely to me, and I have a degree today because of what I took (for free) from that board. I can say with a straight face that I stayed and helped (for free) encourage or advise others who are in the process of earning credit through testing- or who went on to earn their degree. The specific exam feedback is (IMO) was the best of the best for testing info. So, even without the specific exam feedback section open to all, it is still valuable, but now it's just a product.

I am bummed that I can't "send" people there now....Unless of course we are talking about a nice commission....

 

I think we have enough active users here to create a forum that would be similar, helpful, and free. I will do my part, I am sure of that.

 

Hmm. I've noticed that Instacert has degreeforum.net as part of their web address. Is Instacert a successor organization to what used to be known as Degreeforum?

 

Any so-called "businessperson" who charges money for something that he himself got free of charge is a CROOK and a CON ARTIST!!! Especially if he is charging those people who provided the information free of charge!!! By the way, who are you, newbie?

 

So, you are saying that it is a sound business decision to drive off the net contributors by charging them a fee so that they can give away information for free? And here I thought the greed is good decade ended nearly twenty years ago. Hmm.

 

20 bucks goes a long way for some people. Especially those who have been laid off and are struggling to find work to feed their families on an ever dwindling savings. Perhaps compensation is in order for members who have provided valuable and significant contribution.

 

One of the characteristics that we as humans share to one degree or another is a desire to justify our thoughts and actions. When we trash someone’s reputation, simply because they don’t behave in a manner that we feel they should, that is pretty serious. Since the beginning of this thread, half truths have been exaggerated by some to try and justify their positions. New people to the thread have gotten caught up in the group think, and now some are labeling this guy a crook and con artist.

As someone who was benefitted from the Instacert forum, and stayed on as a contributor after I graduated, I will relate my experience. The forum is broken down into sections. Each section contains valuable information that gives elearners plenty of resources for testing out of exams, the Big 3, etc….
Take a moment to look at this link that anyone and everyone has access to:
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-education-testing-discussion/333-exam-resources-newbies-read-before-asking.html

Take a moment and look at this link that anyone and everyone has access to: http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-thomas-edison-charter-oak-specific/

Take a moment and look at this link that anyone and everyone has access to:
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-education-testing-discussion/
The notion that people have to pay to post over on that forum is a calculated untruth.

The Specific Feedback Section on that site is the ONLY part of that forum that is now accessible only to InstaCert members. It is my understanding that the Specific Feedback Section was originally setup to aid flashcard users (InstaCert members). When I finished testing out of 15 exams in 5 months, I cancelled my membership. I was very surprised to see that I could still access that section. I thought all along that it was only for InstaCert members. In my opinion, it never should have been open to everyone. Why? The point of reference in that section was and is directly related to the flashcard users. Anyone who has used the flashcards to test out knows that.

Anyone experienced at testing out of exams, can find and rattle off hundreds of sources. Go to the original link I provided and you will find enough sources to cover most any subject. The fact that posters are regurgitating sources of information and that information is freely available, is hardly grounds for claiming that their information is being stolen and sold.
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-education-testing-discussion/333-exam-resources-newbies-read-before-asking.html


Since I was introduced to this board by someone from the other board, I thought that both boards were part of a larger community of elearners who had a common goal. I hope that the owner of the other forum that has helped thousands of elearners doesn’t pull the plug because of this nonsense. Now that would be a real bummer.

 

Who the hell are you to decide that I'm "too cheap" because I won't pay $20/month for something when you don't know my income, you don't know my expenses, and you don't know whether the product/service proffered has any utility for me whatsoever? Rest assured, if you were to take over this board and start charging me to be here (when I am a net contributor), there is no way in hell I would stay.

 

One more time...

As someone who was benefitted from the Instacert forum, and stayed on as a contributor after I graduated, I will relate my experience. The forum is broken down into sections. Each section contains valuable information that gives elearners plenty of resources for testing out of exams, the Big 3, etc….
Take a moment to look at this link that anyone and everyone has access to:
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-e...re-asking.html


Take a moment and look at this link that anyone and everyone has access to: http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior...-oak-specific/


Take a moment and look at this link that anyone and everyone has access to:
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-e...ng-discussion/
The notion that people have to pay to post over on that forum is a calculated untruth.

If you want access to the Specific Feedback Section which is designed specifically for the InstaCert flashcard users who are testing out of undergraduate exams, then you have to be an InstaCert flashcard subscriber. Now on the average, using the flashcard method, I was able to test out of 1 exam a week for 16 weeks. To me, the $20 per month was worth it. For others that may not be enough utility.

 

One more time...if the links don't work then please spend 30 seconds here
http://www.degreeforum.net/


As someone who was benefitted from the Instacert forum, and stayed on as a contributor after I graduated, I will relate my experience. The forum is broken down into sections. Each section contains valuable information that gives elearners plenty of resources for testing out of exams, the Big 3, etc….
Take a moment to look at this link that anyone and everyone has access to:
http://www.degreeforum.net/general-education-testing-discussion/333-exam-resources-newbies-read-before-asking.html



Take a moment and look at this link that anyone and everyone has access to: http://www.degreeforum.net/general-education-testing-discussion/



The notion that people have to pay to post over on that forum is a calculated untruth.

If you want access to the Specific Feedback Section which is designed specifically for the InstaCert flashcard users who are testing out of undergraduate exams, then you have to be an InstaCert flashcard subscriber. Now on the average, using the flashcard method, I was able to test out of 1 exam a week for 16 weeks. To me, the $20 per month was worth it. For others that may not be enough utility.

 

That's right DLer...however you want to slice it - if you want to post on the specific exam forum (or access it for that matter) - you have to pay for the privilege of doing so.

 

So, are you saying that your beef is that you are no longer able to contribute to the Specific Exam Feedback threads, which is where people who recently took the exams leave feedback as it pertains to the flashcards? Have you taken a lot of CLEP's lately ?

Anyone can make a post that recommends using Sparknotes or any of 100 different resources, that is not what Specific Feedback is about.The InstaCert flashcards are one of the few resources available that many have used exclusively to earn credit undergraduate college credit in a short amount of time.

I paid the $20 per month during the 5 months that I tested out of 72 credits using the InstaCert flashcards and what my son is doing while he is testing out of credits toward his BS and what I would expect anyone to do who is using that particular resource, since it was set up for the flashcard users. But hey that's just my opinion.

 

To be fair, distance-educator.com charges $19.95 monthly for access to private forums among other benefits. I would agree that is the consumers decision if they wish to pay to access private forums as part of their overall subscription model.

 

My kids have taken 2 CLEP exams: American Government and Analyzing and Interpreting Lit. I didn't know about the Specific Feedback Forum until it was referred to me by Cookderosa. We used the Specific Feedback Forum for American Government and did contribute to the forum discussion after my daughter completed the exam.

On January 9 two of my children are going to take 3 CLEP/DSST exams: English Comp w/ Essay, Astronomy, and Sociology. I was going to post the resources that they are using on the Specific Exam Forum - but since IC has chosen to make the Specific Feedback Forum a "pay to use" forum - I won't post the resources there. It's a matter of principle - the users of that forum who contributed won't be compensated, and I won't be compensated for helping the firm make money.

Again, IC can do what they please, (notice how quick the company shut down the thread), but DegreeInfo has the opportunity to pull more people to this board by offering the service for free.

Shawn

 

Shawn,
During this time did you also pay the $20 per month per child to access the flashcards?

 

We did for one month - the kids weren't thrilled with them to say the least...

Shawn

 

Yesh!!!!!!

 

To be fair through, if you subscribe to distance-educator.com, you know what you are getting into from the beginning. This wasn't the case with the specific exam feedback section of degree forum.

There are years worth of information on that forum about CLEP, DSST, ECE, etc. OK, so IC wants to charge for it, OK. (though I have an issue with taking all of this free work and making money off of it).

By nature, many people who use the credit by examination are price conscious (myself included). Therefore, a free resource makes sense.

Shawn

 

Gotcha. That would explain why you feel your feedback is so valuable...because it worked for your kids and it didn't have anything to do with the flashcards. In my opinion, this is part of the problem that the Specific Feedback faced and why it should be limited to IC users. It was set up for InstaCert flashcard users. I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but I don't think the owners intent is to gather all of the non-InstaCert resources and then post or as you say sell them to his InstaCert users. Doesn't make a lot of sense. The non-IC resources can be found anywhere for free, including on the other areas of his site. The value is in the flashcards and the Specific Feedback as the flashcards relate to the exams.
That's the point Shawn.