Victoria College Online Course Guide

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1 Victoria College Online Course Guide DO NOT LOSE THIS GUIDE!! IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT YOU WILL NEED TO HELP YOU ACCESS YOUR COURSE!!! YOU HAVE ENROLLED IN THE FOLLOWING COURSE/COURSES: COURSE NAME VICTORIA COLLEGE COURSE VCT COURSE - COLLEGE HOSTING THIS COURSE Prepared by Technology Services Helpdesk [email protected] 1

2 INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION FOR ONLINE COURSES If you are taking a Victoria College online course it is very important that you read pages 3-11 of this handbook! Information you need regarding course access, and other applicable information can be found on these pages. If you are taking a Virtual College of Texas course it is very important that you read page 12 of this handbook! Information you need regarding course access, and other applicable information can be found on these pages. 2

3 ACCESSING YOUR VICTORIA COLLEGE ONLINE COURSE STEP 1 You will need to get your userid/password by going to the Student Account Manager located at: (You will need to agree to the regulations governing student use of Victoria College computing resources, then retrieve your userid and password by entering the fields as prompted. You will be given your userid and password. WRITE THESE DOWN AND KEEP IT IN A SAFE PLACE! This is what you will use to access your Victoria College online courses.) Your login ID will not work until the first day of class! 3

4 WebCT is the e-learning environment that Victoria College uses for online courses. WebCT is a Web based set of course tools designed to deliver online learning. Once you have your userid and password from isam, you need to go to the following link to access WebCT. (Go to WebCt under Online Services) 4

5 You will see a login screen like the one below. Enter your isam userid and password here. 5

6 Once logged in, and your instructor has added you to his/her course, you will see your name and the class/classes that you are registered for. If your course is not listed, please contact the instructor for the course. Only your instructor can add you to the course. If you registered late, please wait one business day for your instructor to add you to the course. If you do not know who your instructor is, click the SEARCH button located on the WebCT login page. (See example below) 6

7 VARIOUS ISSUES CONCERNING WebCT WebCT Logon Problems 1. You are attempting to log in to your course before the first day of class. Please wait until the first day of class. 2. You registered late. Your WebCT account may not have been created on the server. Please wait for WebCT to be updated. You may not be able to log in until the next business day. 3. You are typing in your WebCT ID incorrectly. If you registered on time, or if you have already waited for the system to update and you still cannot log in, it could be that your WebCT ID is different from what you are typing in. Make sure you are typing in lower case and that you have reviewed the instructions. 4. You are typing in the wrong password, you forgot your password and/or your account needs a password reset. You can verify your userid/password by going to the following website: and click on lost password. Fill in the information and it will show you your userid/password. Double check this and make sure it is correct. If you are still having trouble please contact the helpdesk at When you attempt to log on to WebCT you are redirected back to the blank logon page. To Correct: This problem occurs when cookies are disabled in your browser configurations. 1. In Internet Explorer, click Tools, Internet Options 2. Click on the "Privacy" tab. 3. You can either click the "Default" button to change all settings back to default, -OR- go to the Advanced Settings, and "Accept First-Party Cookies. 7

8 When I click "Begin Quiz, nothing happens! _OR_ You cannot view discussion postings. When you take a quiz, a new window will pop-up, and if you have any kind of pop-up blocking software running on your computer, then your quiz will not open. Pop-up blockers can be in components in toolbars that you have added to your browser or they can be features of some internet security software that you are running in the background, like a connection firewall, such as Zone Alarm. Please read the documentation of your software to learn how to enable, disable, or configure its pop-up blocker. There are several ways to check to see if any pop-up blockers are running on your system: Recommended: Go to the link Two browser windows will open. One contains the popup detection script and the other a sample popup window. If you see a window with the message "It is a pop-up window. The popup killer should close it!" a popup killer program is NOT installed on your system. Yahoo Companion Bar The Yahoo Companion Bar is a browser toolbar. To disable the pop-up feature, open Internet Explorer, locate the pop-up icon, and then click on the small down arrow to see the menu. Select/Deselect Block Pop-Ups - to enable/disable. Google Bar The Google Toolbar is a browser toolbar. To disable the pop-up feature, open Internet Explorer, and click the pop-up icon to disable the blocker. Pop-Up Stopper Pop-Up Stopper is a program that runs on your computer, and can be accessed through the system tray. (This is located on the bottom right hand corner of your screen, next to the time). To turn the blocker off, simply right click on the hand icon and select Exit/Disable/Close. 8

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10 Microsoft Service Pack 2 (SP2) With the release of Microsoft s Service Pack 2, Pop-Up blocking is now integrated into Internet Explorer. To disable, go to Tools>Pop-Up Blocker>Turn Off Pop-Up Blocker. 10

11 Norton Internet Security To disable Pop-up blocking: 1. Open Norton Internet Security. 2. Double-click 'Ad Blocking'. 3. Disable 'Turn on Pop-up Window Blocking'. 4. Click 'OK'. 5. Restart your computer. Other Things to check if you are having problems. Check system requirements, and verify that you computer is fit to run WebCT successfully. Run the Browser Tune Up located at: to check for compatibility errors, or missing plug-ins. Firewall/Anti-Virus/Third Party Toolbars If you have a firewall running, or you use Norton System Works, you must add to your accepted sites list, or else disable the software. Also, make sure you do not have any third party toolbars (e.g. weather bug...etc) running by going to View, Toolbars, and un-checking them. Also, see below: Having problems keeping the third-party toolbars from being installed on your user's Microsoft Internet Explorer? Situation: You want to stop users from installing third-party toolbars in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). These toolbars are from Web sites such as Yahoo! and Google, and provide some tools for the user in exchange for screen space, adware, spyware, and a constant reminder about the service providing the toolbar. Resolution: The simplest way to prevent a user from installing these toolbars is to take the following steps: Open the Control Panel and find the Internet Options icon. 2. Click on the Advanced Tab. 3. In the Browsing section, clear the "Enable third-party browser extensions (requires restart)" check box. 4. Click OK. 5. Reboot the computer.

12 VIRTUAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS INFORMATION If you are taking a course through Virtual College of Texas (VCT) then you will receive your userid and password from the institution providing the course. You will need to check the that you supplied when you registered for the course to obtain this information. Information can also be found at the Virtual College of Texas website, Search for the course you registered for and you will find course information, teacher information and information about instructional materials. If you have questions concerning a VCT course, you will need to contact the college hosting the course. If you are still not sure on how to access your VCT course, you can contact The Victoria College Helpdesk at and we can help point you in the right direction! 12