Center for Online Learning: Student Resources

Welcome to our Student Resources page.

Here you will find documentation, guidance, information, and resources intended to assist you in your online courses. Whether you are a new student and are unsure where to begin, an experienced student interested in our proctoring services, or a student with a question about a technical issue, it is highly probable that you will find some of the information available to you here useful.

New to our university and not sure how or where to get started? The information here should help in that regard.

Getting Started with MyOnline (WVSU Online/Moodle)
This resource will help you get logged in for the first time.

Learner Orientation
This self-enrollment orientation course aims to familiarize new students with some of the common features used in Moodle, our Learning Management System (LMS), courses. 

To get started, simply click the Learner Orientation link above, sign in to MyOnline, then click the Enroll Me button. 

West Virginia State University’s proctoring policy for students taking a 100% online course allows the following three options:
 

1. On-campus proctoring
   
   • The professor may decide to proctor an exam at a time, date, and location specified in the course schedule. If you are able to come to campus to take the exam, then this should be your preferred proctoring method.
      
   • If the date and time on the schedule is not possible, you may alternatively schedule an appointment for proctoring in the Center for Online Learning.
     • To schedule an appointment, visit the Center for Online Learning Test Proctoring Schedule on Calendly, select the correct term, and follow the instructions. 
     • If you have proctoring related questions, you may contact the COL via email at COL-proctoring@wvstateu.edu or by phone at 304-766-3300.
     • NOTES: 
       • ​Proctoring is available in the COL Monday-Friday from 8:30 am to 4 pm, with appointments available on every half hour between 8:30 am and 1:30 pm.
       • Appointments are first come, first serve and must be scheduled at least 24-hours in advance. However, it is strongly advised that you schedule further in advance to ensure a secure time slot and to ensure that the COL has the required information to administer the test.          
   • Students with documented disabilities may also choose to schedule proctoring of their test by contacting sar@wvstateu.edu at Counseling and Accessiblity Services. Appointments must be scheduled two weeks prior to the test date.                             
   • The Military Student Services office (militarystudentservices@wvstateu.edu) has personnel assigned who have agreed to proctor tests for military students and veterans by appointment. Appointments must be scheduled two weeks prior to the test date.                                                                                                                        
2. Off-campus proctoring
   
   If you have extenuating circumstances or are outside our service area, you may request a proctor from outside WVSU from the list below. Please note that a family member or friend cannot be an approved proctor. The request for an outside proctor must be submitted to the professor, three weeks prior to the test. Any outside proctor must be approved by the professor in advance and must agree to administer the test following the professor’s instructions.
   
   Proctors may be selected from the following groups:
   Off-Campus Proctor Approval Form
   1. A vocational rehabilitation counselor
       
   2. A faculty member or administrator at an accredited college or university
       
   3. A school superintendent, principal, or counselor
       
   4. A librarian at a public library
       
   5. A clergy member
       
   6. A commissioned or non-commissioned officer of higher rank than the student for military students
       
   7. A corporate education director
       
3. On-line proctoring
   
   WVSU has chosen ProctorU to provide online proctoring services for all online courses. With ProctorU, you may take your test at any time during the date range that the test is open from any computer.
   
   Test-takers are responsible for meeting the following technical requirements in order to use ProctorU:
   
   • A reliable computer running Windows XP (or higher) or Mac OS X 10 or higher
      
   • A web cam with 640×480 video pixel resolution or higher.
      
   • Headphones or working speakers connected to the computer.
      
   • A working microphone connected to the computer. We recommend a web cam that has a built in microphone.
      
   • A reliable, high-speed Internet connection.
      
   • The ability to allow video and screen-sharing connections to the computer used to take an exam.
      

ProctorU allows test-takers to take an exam on demand or by appointment. All appointments should be made at least three days in advance. To make an appointment, go to  the WVSU portal for ProctorU, log in (or click on the New User link if you do not have an account yet), click on the “schedule an exam” link, and select the exam, date, and time you desire. You will receive an email confirming your reservation at the email address you provided to ProctorU. All appointments should be made at least three days in advance in order to avoid premium scheduling charges. See the chart below for ProctorU pricing.

Proctor U Pricing

WVSU is not responsible for making any payments to ProctorU. Payment of all proctoring fees will be the obligation of the individual examinee. Any charges applicable to the examinee must be paid with a credit or debit card. The examinee will be required to enter payment information into a secure page connected to a third-party card processor. The page is encrypted and ProctorU does not see or store the credit card data. Examinees will have to re-enter payment information each time new charges are incurred.

Exam Length	Flex Scheduling	Take it Soon	Take it Now
30 Minutes or Less	$ 8.75	$ 13.75	$ 17.50
31 – 60 Minutes	$ 17.50	$ 22.50	$ 26.25
61 – 120 Minutes	$ 25.00	$ 30.00	$ 33.75
121 – 180 Minutes	$ 33.75	$ 38.75	$ 42.50
181 Minutes or More	$ 42.50	$ 47.50	$ 51.25

Optional Fees:

Flex Scheduling allows an examinee to make an appointment at least 72 hours before the desired start time. However, at an additional cost, an examinee may choose Take it Soon or Take it Now options (+$5.00 and +$8.75 respectively). Take it Soon allows a test to be scheduled within 72 hours of the chosen start time; Take it Now allows a test to be taken on-demand with no appointment needed. These options are for the convenience of the examinee and are not required.

For more information about ProctorU, visit the WVSU portal for ProctorU.

Other Resources

Online courses and blended courses require additional initiative on the part of the student. First, a student must be prepared to allot the needed time and effort by developing a schedule for their work.  Study skills are vital and awareness of help options is vital to successful completion of online courses. The links below provide some valuable information for online students that might help. 

• The Learning Enrichment Centers – Tutoring and Academic Assistance
• Improving Your Study Skills
• Student Accessibility Services
• Time Management Skills
• 10 Advantages to Taking Online Classes

It is also very important that your equipment be up-to-date so that the courses you are taking and the information provided by your instructors can be viewed as it is designed.  We’ve provided some links to help you verify your computer’s operability and to keep your computer’s software current for your online classes.

• Adobe Reader
• Microsoft Office 365 – Free for WVSU Students
• WVSU Online

To access your courses or additional information about WVSU’s Learning Management System, please use the link below.  Here you will find additional information that is more specific to Moodle, the Learning Management System used at WVSU.  You will find additional information there concerning Distance Education efforts and Student Services available to our online student population, such as online test proctoring, online tutoring services, and library services for distance learners.  When reviewing your schedule of online courses, please take note of the actual start dates. Some online courses follow the regular 16-week semester, but many online courses are 8-week courses. To accommodate those courses, the semester is split into Term A and Term B. Please check the class schedule to verify the start date of your online courses.

I can log in to MyOnline, but I cannot see my course.
There are a few reasons why this might occur:

• Courses are unpublished to students until the beginning of the semester.  This means that even though you may be enrolled in a course, you may not be able to view it in MyOnline until the day the semester starts.  If the semester has started and you still cannot view your course, please continue reading.
• The missing course(s) is part of a different term. There are different terms within each semester (e.g., Full-term, Term A, and Term B), so it is possible that a missing course(s) will not start until later in the semester. Please check the official course schedule or MyState to determine the start date of your online courses.
• You are no longer registered for the course.  Prior to submitting a help request to the Center, check your MyState page to ensure that you are still enrolled in the course.  If you find that you are no longer enrolled in your course, contact either the Cashier’s Office at (304) 766-3141 or the Registration Office at (304) 766-4146 to determine why you were dropped from the course.  Once you are re-enrolled, you will be added back into the course within a 24 hours in most cases.
• If none of these possibilities apply to you, please contact the COL Help Desk or call us at (304) 766-3300

I missed a deadline. What do I do?
If you miss a deadline or due date on an assignment, quiz, exam, etc., then you need to first review the course syllabus to determine if the professor has an established late policy, you should then either follow the guidance given there or, if none is provided, reach out to the professor directly through email or their preferred contact method.