Frequently Asked Questions

1. I can’t log in to the MyVCCCD portal. It says that I locked my account or my password is incorrect.

2. I registered for a class today, and the instructor sees me on his or her classlist, but I still can’t access the Desire2Learn part of the course.

3. I want to add your course. Can you give me an access code?

4. I'm waitlisted for a class. How do I get access?

5. I’ve never taken an online class before and I have some questions. How do I get started?

6. I can’t take the midterm or final on campus. How do I take it?

7. I’m authorized for double time or time and a half on a test, or I have some other accommodation. How do I make sure I receive it?

8. My internet crashed during an exam and then my time ran out so I couldn’t finish my test. Can you reset it for me?

1. I can’t log in to the MyVCCCD portal. It says that I locked my account or my password is incorrect.
   Use the "Forgot username?" and "Forgot password?" links on the portal sign in page. If you don't know or can't remember the answers to the secret questions you set up, you can visit Admissions and Records and they can reset your password. You will need a valid photo ID.

2. I registered for a class today, and the instructor sees me on his or her classlist, but I still can’t access the Desire2Learn part of the course.
   There is an approximately 24-hour delay from the time you register until the time you are enrolled in the Desire2Learn course shell. Desire2Learn and the program you use to register for courses only sync up once a day, starting very early in the morning. If you register for a class, you should be able to access it in Desire2Learn the following day.

3. I want to add your course. Can you give me an access code?
   You will need to speak directly to the instructor for information about adding and dropping courses. They are the only ones with access to add codes.

4. I'm waitlisted for a class. How do I get access?
   You will access the course through the MyVCCCD Portal. You will have the same access as non-waitlisted students. If you have not been removed from the waitlisted and officially enrolled in the course around the second or third week of the semester, you will no longer have access to the course.
   

5. I’ve never taken an online class before and I have some questions. How do I get started?
   The first thing you want to do is log in to your MyVCCCD Portal. Once you’re there, you can access your online courses several ways.

   There are a few other resources available for you. First, you can check out the page that the District has set up with the basics. This does a fairly thorough job of going over most of the tools, and includes links to short video tutorials as well. The other thing you can do is attend a Desire2Learn technical orientation that goes over accessing and using Desire2Learn. For information about course content, you will want to email or otherwise contact your instructor.

6. I can’t take the midterm or final on campus. How do I take it?
   You can work with the instructor and the distance education office to find a proctor. A proctor will need to be someone who works at a local community college, college, university, or library near you. Typically that person works in the office of distance ed or some kind of proctoring center. They must have a work email (no Gmail, Yahoo!, hotmail, etc.) and verifible contact information. Students in the military can also work with someone on base/post to arrange a proctor. Once the proctor is chosen, the student should email his or her instructor the proctor's pertinent information (name, job title, phone number, email address, etc.) The instructor will be in contact with the proctor to make sure the midterm is set up properly and to relay any instructions about the exam to the proctor.

7. I’m authorized for double time or time and a half on a test, or I have some other accommodation. How do I make sure I receive it?
   Adding time to your quiz or test is pretty simple. The fastest way to get it set up is to have the VC counselor who authorized you for the extended time or other accommodations to email both the distance ed office (krista_wilbur1@vcccd.edu) as well as your instructor with the pertinent information (your name, student ID, the CRN for the course, and the accommodations). Sometimes classes have quizzes with unlimited time; if this is the case, either the instructor or I will let you know.

8. My internet crashed during an exam and then my time ran out so I couldn’t finish my test. Can you reset it for me?
   That depends. The Distance Ed office can’t reset quizzes or exams without the instructor’s permission. However, we can “investigate” your problem and make a recommendation based on what we find. Your instructor has the ability to either reset the exam him- or herself, ask our office to do it, or tell you that he or she won’t reset it.

   What do we look for when we're “investigating”? We log in to Desire2Learn and use the program’s tracking feature to make sure you logged in when you said you did, and we check the timestamps on the exam. Desire2Learn tracks every single time you click “save” on an exam, and it also tells instructors when you logged in to start the test. If you logged out (or were kicked out because your computer crashed, or your internet went down), and then logged in again, it indicates that you reentered the quiz.

   What can you do to make sure we can clearly see the problem? First of all, save every answer as soon as you mark it. Each question has a gray button under the answers that says "Save." Once you’ve marked your answer, save it! If you do this, it’s much easier to see the e-trail of what you were doing and when you were doing it, and makes it easier for us to verify that you are being truthful. Sometimes you will finish an exam, but for whatever reason it wasn’t submitted. Your instructor and the office of distance ed can submit the exam or quiz for you; this only works, however, if you have saved every question as you answer them.

   If you do encounter a problem, email your instructor immediately. Don’t wait three or four days. If you send out an email right after you have a problem, it’s easier to find it and fix it. The third thing you can do is to take your exams and quizzes before the deadline. For things that have a large window of submission, such as a week, doing them two or three days before they’re due is ideal. For exams that are only available for a day, try not to wait until 11:50 (when you have to start by 11:55). Of course, this is not always possible, but it’s a good rule of thumb when you’re taking an online class. Many students email the distance ed after regular business hours, expecting an exam to be reset immediately – this most likely will not happen. The email will be addressed the following business day.