Gateway: Tips for completing the online course 101

You must complete a module or a learning assessment in its entirety without exiting to receive credit for completing it. Gateway does not track where you left off in a course module or in an assessment. If you close the course window or your browser before completion, you will have to start again from the beginning.

Closing the Course window:

Closing the browser:

You must complete all 10 modules and all 10 learning assessments to receive credit for completing Course 101. Completing Module 4, Property Tax Classification, and its learning assessment satisfy the independent requirement that all assessors be qualified to classify property.

Begin with Module 0, the Course 101 Introduction. This module contains a lot of important information on how the online course works, including demonstrating the screen controls, showing you how to navigate between sections and how to receive credit for completing the course. After completing Module 0 you may take the remaining modules in any order.

You can repeat any Course 101 module as many times as you like, but you can only pass a knowledge assessment once. Once you obtain a passing score, the learning assessment link will disappear. The link will remain available, however, until you do score 70% or higher on an assessment.

At the end of each course module you will see several pages with instructions for receiving credit and for moving on to the module’s learning assessment. Please read these pages carefully, especially when completing your first module.

Before continuing with the learning assessment, you may go back through one or more course sections to repeat the content, or you can click the red “Next page” arrow to continue.

Modules and learning assessments are separate files stored within Gateway. At the conclusion of a module you must return to Gateway to access the learning assessment. Since most modules take more than 30 minutes, your Gateway session will probably have timed out, and you will be taken to the login screen.

Simply enter your user name and password on the login screen and Gateway will return you to the Course 101 page. The link for the learning assessment appears in the Learning Assessment “Launch Link” column.

It will remain there until you successfully complete the learning assessment. Once you receive 70% or higher in the assessment, the link will disappear, and the completion date will appear in the Completed column.

To begin a learning assessment, click the Take Assessment link. The learning assessment file will open a new browser tab or window.

Click the Start Assessment button to begin, or click the Cancel Assessment button if you wish to take the assessment later.

Each module’s learning assessment asks a series of questions with multiple choice answers. Unlike the knowledge checks, you will not see the correct answer immediately after answering a question.

Your score will be displayed at the end of the assessment, and a list of questions answered incorrectly can be viewed or printed to help you review those topics. Click the Print icon to print the questions answered incorrectly. Click the check mark icon to continue to the next screen.

If you receive 70% or higher on the assessment you will see the first part of a Congratulations! page.

It is important that you click the Module Credit button – this sends you from the assessment back to DLS Gateway.

You must click the link on the Module Completion page for Gateway to update your training record.

You will receive email confirmation upon course completion, and also upon completing Module 4, Property Tax Classification.

The date you completed the assessment will appear in the Learning Assessment - Completed column. The Take Assessment link disappears once you successfully pass the learning assessment.

After viewing the Course 101 page you should return to the Congratulations! page to complete the process.

Click Print Certificate if you would like a certificate of completion (this is not required by DOR; it is for your records only.) Please note that this is the only opportunity for printing a certificate - you cannot return to this screen to print it later. You will receive a completion email, however, confirming you've finished the course.

Click the Next arrow to continue to the last course slide.

On the final page, please click the Survey button to take a brief, anonymous survey. Your feedback will help us improve and enhance Course 101 in the future.

Browser tips

You can use any Web browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari and so on) to take Course 101. Browsers all have different ways of displaying information, and your personal settings may differ from other users’ settings. Because each module and learning assessment is a separate file, your browser will open new tabs or windows as it needs to.

Because multiple tabs or windows may have opened as you work through the course, we strongly recommend that when you are done with Course 101 for the day, log out of Gateway if you are still logged in, and close all browser windows. You may also wish to do this in between modules if you experience slow performance; browsers sometimes have difficulty if too many tabs or windows are open simultaneously.

I need help – whom do I call?

If you have difficulty with Gateway or the course functionality, please contact DLS Gateway support: Email: DLSGateway@dor.state.ma.us

If you have questions regarding course content or materials, please email Linda Bradley, Program Coordinator with the Bureau of Local Assessment at course101@dor.state.ma.us.