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Guidelines and Expectations

Laurier's online courses are designed to provide you with a range of ways to interact with the learning materials including visual and audio objects, multimedia, and links to resources. You are encouraged to engage with faculty and fellow students through discussion boards, emails and other interactive tools. Active communication and participation is no longer limited to the live classroom. All you require is a home or office computer with an Internet connection.

Courses may have the following features:

  • announcements
  • discussio boards (used primarily for student-to-student discussion)
  • email
  • instructor information
  • course schedules
  • term calendars
  • assignments/learning activities
  • online quizzes/tests/exams (may be proctored in person)
  • online course notes that include dynamic activities like matching exercises, self-test quizzes, etc.
  • companion sites for text
  • online syllabuses

Note

The information within this section might not apply to all courses normally scheduled for in-person delivery. Your program webpage should be your go-to spot for up-to-date information relevant to your program.

Registration

Once you're registered at Laurier and your Laurier email account is ready for activation, you can set up your myLaurier webmail account. The official means of communication between you and Laurier is through your Laurier email, so be sure to set it up as soon as you are able.

Our registration guide has all the information you need to get started on registering for courses.

Costs

Online Learning students pay all regular Laurier tuition and fees. For details, contact Service Laurier In addition, you must pay an online course administration fee of $37 per course. 

Note: The online course administration fee is primarily applied to courses which include “OC[#]” in the course code (found on LORIS), however this designation may differ in some programs.

For information about course materials, deposits and shipping, see our Course Materials page.

MyLearningSpace Online Platform

Laurier uses MyLearningSpace (MyLS) as the online platform for all of its online courses. Access is typically granted to online courses one week before their official start date. Follow the below steps to log in and begin using MyLS:

  1. Go to mylearningspace.wlu.ca.
  2. Log in using your Laurier username and password. This is the same login that you use for your Laurier email.
  3. Click on the course title to find your weekly schedule, course notes, assignments, and communication tools. All course correspondence will take place using the MyLS communication tools. You are responsible for being aware of online notices and for accessing your courses as required.
  4. Verify through MyLS that you have all the course materials.
  5. Review any introductory student information videos associated with your courses. For problems with login, password, or "course missing" errors, contact myls@wlu.ca.

Learn more about the features of MyLS using the MyLearningSpace student guide.

Time Spent on Studying

Online courses are flexible and convenient, allowing you to work around other commitments. However, they do require you to dedicate approximately 10-12 hours per course per week to your academic work (specific requirements vary by course).

There will be assessments, assignments and activities that are due at set times throughout the term.

Tests and Exams

The assessment scheme for our online courses may include quizzes, midterms and final examinations that may require you to use Lockdown Browser. For all course modes, assessments can be held in-person and/or virtually, as determined by the instructor and indicated on the course syllabus. Students in virtual courses can be required to complete in-person assessments.

Deadlines

Due dates are set up at the start of the courses and are identified by the week of study that you are in. For example, you may have an essay due at the end of week three; this is because terms may start on any day of the week. Some courses may also include upgraded learning tasks that are intended to help reinforce learning.

Additional Information for Online Degree Students

For students in the part-time Master of Social Work program, please note that your courses may be six weeks long, in comparison to the typical 12-week courses for on-campus students.

For example, in the fall 2021 term, the first six-week course will start on Sept. 9, 2024, and the second six-week course will start on Oct. 28, 2024. It is recommended that students take only one six-week course at a time.

Note that part-time students can only take three courses per 12-week term (so three courses total between January and April, three courses total between May and August, and three courses total between September and December).

If you cannot access the system or have any questions, contact Service Laurier.