- General Information
- Each course is unique and the technology requirements may slightly vary.
- Students must have a functional email account, and must check it regularly for updates and announcements.
- Virus Protection
- Virus protection software is recommended.
- Additional Software
- Depending on the course, students may also need one of the following software packages:
- Word-processing software such as Apple Pages, Google Docs, Microsoft Office, or OpenOffice
- Spreadsheet software such as Apple Numbers, Microsoft Excel, or the free software provided by Google Docs or OpenOffice
- Presentation software such as Apple Keynote, Microsoft PowerPoint, or the free software provided by Google Docs or OpenOffice
- Multimedia player such as iTunes, VLC Media Player, or Windows Media Player
- Computer Skills
- In order to succeed in an online course, students should feel confident with the following skills, at minimum:
- Using a keyboard and mouse (or a notebook touchpad)
- Using a browser to navigate webpages, recognizing links, bookmark pages, using the “Back” and “Reload” (or “Refresh”) buttons
- Using a search engine (such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo!) to retrieve information
- Sending and receiving e-mail
- Using word processing software
- Saving files to a hard drive, portable storage device, or cloud service and retrieving them for editing or submission
- Uploading and downloading documents and files
- Installing and updating software
- Creating audio files
In addition, students should recognize that technology will sometimes fail. It is strongly recommended that students not yet proficient in troubleshooting technical problems such as an Internet outages, hard drive crashes, or viruses have someone they can consult should the need arise.