Standard College’s Learning Management System is a web-based platform called Populi. Each student has access to a private, confidential, secure electronic account in Populi. Students can access academic records, course grades, tuition account information, financial aid information, messages from faculty, staff, and administration, the signed Enrollment Agreement, among other comprehensive institutional information, in Populi on a 24/7 hour basis.
Secure access controls are in place for to safeguard the confidentiality of the electronic student records maintained in Populi. Populi has strong user authentication measures, including the requirement of a username and password, to ensure that the appropriate individual has access to his/her student records. Populi requires students to log in with their username and password whenever the system is used.
Populi works like any other web page. Every page has links or buttons that might perform an action or take one to another page. Students can use the browser’s forward, back, and refresh buttons to move among the pages he/she is working on. When a student logs in, Populi will take the student straight to the Home page. Home shows and links to what’s going on right now and what’s going to happen. Depending on what may be going on, Home can show Alerts, News, Invitations, Events, To-Dos, and Courses.
When the student is done using Populi, the student should log out by clicking the name in the upper part of the screen and selecting Log Out from the drop-down.
Technical requirements: What you need to use Populi
To use Populi, the computer and internet connection must meet minimum requirements. A computer with a modern web browser and high-speed internet is all that is required.
Broadband Internet
A fast internet connection will ensure that quick and efficient navigation in Populi. A mobile device with a data connection (4G, 5G, or LTE) is usually sufficient as well.
A modern, updated web browser
Populi runs on up-to-date releases of popular web browsers. Most web browsers have some sort of auto-update function, so you may never even need to think about this part. And using a modern web browser won’t just benefit your Populi use—it’s one of the best things you can do for your overall internet security!
Here are the browsers we recommend for use with Populi. If a browser is not listed here, don’t use it for Populi! Again, always try to use the most recent version possible—as companies release newer versions of browsers, they usually drop support for older versions.
PC or Mac
- Google Chrome is probably the best option if you’re using Windows. It’s also very good for Mac users.
- Mozilla Firefox is another good choice on Windows computers (works pretty okay on Macs, too).
- Apple Safari is great on Macs. Not so much on Windows.
- Last and certainly least, Internet Explorer. Mac users can’t even download it! If you’re using Windows 10, they’re encouraging you to use Microsoft Edge.
Mobile browsers
- iOS Safari does well, as does Google Chrome for iOS.
- The stock Android browser works, as does Chrome for Android.
- The Firefox browsers for both iOS and Android aren’t problematic.
- Microsoft Edge (mentioned above) is baked-in to Windows 10 devices and works with Populi; the version of Internet Explorer in Windows 8.1 does alright, too.
If you like to tinker with the browser settings, make sure to enable Javascript and cookies. Ad-blockers don’t pose any problems for the most part, but make sure to whitelist your school’s Populi site.
Other common applications
You can use Populi to export files. The three most common are spreadsheets, PDFs, and word documents Most computers have the software you need to open these files, but in case yours doesn’t, you can consider the following:
- Open Office can open spreadsheets and documents (we use it to generate files for custom page layouts).
- Adobe Acrobat reader handles PDFs. If, for some reason, you have to use an old version, the oldest one that works is version 6.
Monitor
Populi is easiest to use if your monitor is set at a minimum resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels.
