Online Equipment and Technology Requirements
Equipment and Technology Requirements
Individual courses may have additional software requirements. This may include video or audio playing software or a specific software application. You will find more information about this in specific course syllabi
Hardware
Think about which devices will be best for different activities.
- Tablet Computers: These are good reading assigned articles or chapters, reading discussion boards, listening to audio files, or watching videos.
- Laptop and Desktop Computers: These are good for nearly all the activities in an online course.
- Smart Phones and similar mobile devices: These are great you if are just checking on the course discussion board postings, reading notices from your instructor, or writing short messages for classmates. It can help you keep up with the course while on the go.
Software
- Most courses require word processing software. You can download Microsoft Office 365 from the ITS website.
Operating Systems
PC Platform:
- Operating System: Windows 8.1 (32-bit/64-bit), Windows 8 (32-bit/64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit/64-bit)
- Processor: 1.4GHz Intel® Pentium® 4 or faster processor (or equivalent) for Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1
- RAM: 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended) for Windows 7 or Windows 8
- Free Hard Disk Space: 200 MB required
- Audio: 16 bit Sound Card and USB Headphones with microphone required
- Video: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better, OR ATI Radeon 9500 or better, OR Intel 945 chipset
- Webcam: Built-in to laptops or external
- *Software: Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, 9, 10, 11; Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge; Windows Media Player 12 or better (free version available), Acrobat Reader, Adobe® Flash® Player 11.2+
Macintosh Platform:
- Operating System: Mac OS X 10.7.4, 10.8, 10.9
- Processor: 1.83GHz Intel Core™ Duo or faster processor
- RAM: 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)
- Free Hard Disk Space: 200 MB
- Audio: USB Headphones with microphone required
- Video: ATI Radeon 9200 and above, OR ATI Radeon X Series, OR NVIDIA GeForce 2, GeForce 4, OR NVIDIA GeForce 5000 Series and above
- Webcam: Built-in to laptops or external
- *Software: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Windows Media Player Components for QuickTime (free version available), Acrobat Reader, Adobe Flash Player 11.2+
