COLE platform for online exams
Many online exams at Concordia happen on COLE, a user-friendly timed exam platform. Here's what to expect.
It's easy to access the COLE (Concordia OnLine Exams) platform. Simply navigate to cole.concordia.ca and use your Moodle credentials to log in.
COLE includes features designed for your success, like autosave every 15 seconds and the ability to mark questions for review before you submit them.
If your professor is running the exam on Moodle, you'll find it in your Moodle course — your professor will give you more information. Before your exam, download the Rave Guardian app to stay informed of any Moodle outages.
Your online exams on COLE may be proctored (invigilated). Check your course syllabus to find out and get familiar with how proctored online exams work.
Practice exams
Make sure you complete a practice exam before your exam day, to get familiar with the interface and identify any system incompatibility issues you might have beforehand. Practise exams are available on cole.concordia.ca. If you can’t access a practice exam, please email cole@concordia.ca.
Frequently asked questions
Please consult term dates and deadlines.
You can check your personalized final exam schedule in the Student Hub. Go to My CU Account > Academic > View exam schedule.
A “timed online exam” refers to an exam taking place during the exam period that must be written in one sitting over no more than a three-hour time period. Other final assignments including take-home exams — even if these have a specific time duration — projects or quizzes, do not fall under these guidelines and are subject to the normal deferral and incomplete options available to students.
Yes. The COLE exam site has undergone extensive security testing. Any issues that were identified during the testing phase have been resolved. We are ensuring the software stays up-to-date in order to maintain ongoing security.
Yes, if your exam is not proctored. However, you will be losing time to complete your exam.
If your computer crashes, you can re-start your exam if you are taking an exam using COLE. If you can reconnect, try re-accessing your exam; your answers are saved by COLE every 15 seconds so you can continue where you left off. If your exam is auto-proctored, you will go through a quick pre-check to re-enter the exam.
If you lose a lot of time due to technical difficulties during an exam using Proctorio, use the COLE chat (click on the COLE LIVE CHAT HELP tab on the right of your screen) or call the helpline (number located at bottom of screen) to request extended time. The support staff will verify your claim and add the time you lost to your timer.
Two support chats are available once you enter a Proctorio exam. Use Proctorio Chat to ask for help with Proctorio related issues. For questions and requests related to your exam, use the tab marked COLE LIVE CHAT HELP. COLE support staff are also in touch with your instructor who can answer exam content related questions if you have any.
If a power or internet outage should take place before you have completed your exam, contact your professor right away to let them know and to request an alternate exam, if one is available. If it is not, you should request a deferred exam by contacting the exams office.
Be sure to download the Rave Guardian app beforehand, which will inform you in the event of any Moodle outages.
In the unlikely event of a Moodle outage, the exam will be rescheduled. Every effort will be made to reschedule quickly, and your professor will inform you of the new date and time.
If you fall sick while taking your exam, and need to stop writing it, please exit the exam and contact the exams office to discuss a deferral. On Zoom exams, please exit the exam and contact the invigilator.
If you are registered with the Access Centre for Students with Disabilities, your exam will be configured to address your accommodation needs.
Visit the Learn, Teach and Work from Home site to request the equipment. The university may be able to supply an internet stick and a computer so that you can take your exam. All courses and exams are administered online and students must have the required equipment and a reliable internet connection to complete the term. If you have concerns about completing your program, speak to an academic advisor.
Have a question not answered by the FAQ? Contact cole@concordia.ca.
A platform administering timed online exams and a Moodle quiz tool, COLE (Concordia OnLine Exams ) includes features for student success, like autosave every 15 seconds and the ability to mark questions for review.
It's easy to access the COLE platform. Simply navigate to cole.concordia.ca and use your Moodle credentials to log in.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. COLE has undergone extensive security testing. Any issues that were identified during the testing phase have been resolved. We are ensuring the software stays up to date in order to maintain ongoing security.
No. COLE is a Moodle quiz tool developed by Concordia. Open book online exams do not require the use of a student's computer webcam or microphone. COLE is accessed by typing cole.concordia.ca into the Chrome web browser and logging in with your Moodle credentials.
A “timed online exam” refers to an exam taking place during the exam period that must be written in one sitting over no more than a three-hour time period. Other final assignments including take-home exams – even if these have a specific time duration – projects or quizzes, do not fall under these guidelines and are subject to the normal deferral and incomplete options available to students.
Tell your students to use their Concordia credentials to log into the COLE exam site where they will find practice exams and can become familiar with the online exam environment.
Graduate course exams may not be deferred. Other options are available. Please see the School of Graduate Studies FAQ for details.
Consider alternative assessment options for your students. Please visit the Learn, Teach and Work from Home website to fill out a request for equipment online.
Online exam conditions are not like regular in-person exams. As such, the nature of the exams should be adjusted to reflect this reality. In some cases, faculty should reduce the number of questions they would ask by 25%. This will allow students additional time to write their exams in a relatively new environment.
- COLE can support academic integrity without proctoring by randomization from a bank of questions
- Use problem-solving questions that test higher-order understanding of concepts rather than rote memory
- Rather than giving longer exams, consider frequent, short testing where students will need to focus closely for a short duration. Shorter tests are easier for students to complete in circumstances where they may not have a lot of privacy or have dependents that must also care for. Please note: depending on the question type, COLE also provides auto-grading, much like Scantron.
- Students should be permitted to take a bathroom break for any exam longer than 2 hours, whether proctored or not.
Faculty are encouraged to add the following text to their syllabus as a reminder to students:
Content belonging to instructors shared in online courses, including, but not limited to, online lectures, course notes, and video recordings of classes remain the intellectual property of the faculty member. It may not be distributed, published or broadcast, in whole or in part, without the express permission of the faculty member. Students are also forbidden to use their own means of recording any elements of an online class or lecture without express permission of the instructor. Any unauthorized sharing of course content may constitute a breach of the Academic Code of Conduct and/or the Code of Rights and Responsibilities.
You should direct students to be in touch with you at the start of the semester if they anticipate any problems. As the entire semester is being conducted online, it is reasonable to expect students to have the needed equipment to participate in the course.
COLE has built-in phone support during the exam. Make sure to instruct your students to keep the phone number nearby in case they experience technical difficulties.
If a student experiences technical difficulties, they must inform you as soon as possible after the exam and describe the nature of the problem. If they contacted technical support, details about the technical issue can be provided.
If you are a faculty member with questions not answered in the FAQs, please send an email to cole@concordia.ca.
