DD took several AP courses in high school. She's also done a handful of Coursera classes, and other online offerings (including a college course through a fairly well-respected online), for reference. The following were all through Connections (Pearson) during 2010-2014:
AP US History-- some synchronous instruction was offered in this one. Class was okay, but the online course itself was a little lackluster.
AP English Literature-- Online materials for this one were all over the place-- confusing as all get-out, contradictory, and the accompanying assessments were similarly bizarre. The instructor was excellent, however-- and this made up the difference.
AP English Composition-- better than English Lit, but still not what she (or I) would have called a "good" online course. Very dependent upon some instructor contact.
AP Physics B (which no longer exists as a 1yr course)-- The class itself was WAY strange; assessments were light years beyond the instructional materials, and students spent much of their time preparing for those assessments by studying old AP exams and pretty much doing EVERY challenge question in the textbook. Labs were often really engaging and worthwhile, though. Teacher absolutely made this course, and DD loved every minute of it, and this is saying something as she loathes classical mechanics. The pacing in this class was just about perfect for HG+ students. The happiest kids in that class were DD, and two of her long-time friends-- and having met them, it's very clear that all of them are in that HG+ category. I know for a fact that the other two of them earned 5's on the AP exam (which DD did not take). They were actually learning the material, not just hanging on and memorizing shallowly. They were in their element. However, the College Board has done away with this class entirely because it's "too much to cover in one year."
AP Stats-- DD adored this class, though the textbook sucked, the instructional support was nonexistent, and it was a ton of work. Then again, this is one of her college majors. IMMV, let's just say-- because we heard dire, dire things about this class from others both in and out of online educational circles. That the entire organization of the course was a mess, etc. At least the assessment structure in this course was rational, which was a very pleasant surprise with Connections-anything. LOL. Well, DD took a top-down approach and reorganized the entire thing for herself, skipping around in the text, learning from about 3 textbooks, etc. She didn't take the AP exam for this one either since she was getting 200-level dual enrollment credit for it. But she KNOWS her stats, I will say that much.
While I wouldn't necessarily recommend Pearson/Connections for AP work (or anything else), I must also add that those courses tend to draw the best teachers, and THAT makes them easily some of the best high school coursework available through Connections. They operate VERY much like college courses in the hands of the right teacher, so in that sense they are excellent preparation. As to the test prep value for the AP exams, I will say that there was a fair degree of emphasis on this, and most of DD's classmates earned 5's on them, but that may well have been because this is the cohort that was taking the classes, and not because of anything that the courses themselves were doing. In fact, I think that likely-- ALL of these kids were pretty much NMSF/commendee types.
Last edited by HowlerKarma; 02/26/16 10:13 AM.
