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5: Technology Requirements
Computer Skills Required
Hardware Requirements
Software Requirements
Audio Requirements
Computer Skills Required
It is recommended that you be able to perform the following operations on your computer. If you do not have these basic skills, you should consider refraining from taking a course online until you have mastered these competencies.
- Operate a web browser
- Bookmark sites in your web browser
- Download, upload, and install files
- Access your e-mail account
- Send and receive e-mail with attachments
- Use a word processor to create and print documents
- Use presentation software (such as PowerPoint) to create presentation slides
- Perform online literature searches (such as UIUC library or related databases)
Hardware Requirements
To effectively participate and gain all benefits of online instruction, students enrolling in the College of Education Online program should fulfill the following technology requirements.
Minimum Configuration:
- Computer system running Windows XP/Vista/7 or a Mac OS X 10.4/10.5.
- Pentium 4 processor or higher for Windows. Intel processor for Mac. Some G4 processors will work.
- 1GB of memory, preferably with 2GB minimum.
- Video card with at least 64MB of dedicated memory
- Headset (sample recommended headset)
- Sound card with speakers
Software Requirements
To effectively participate and gain all benefits of online instruction, students enrolling in the College of Education Online program should fulfill the following technology requirements.
Required:
- Microsoft Word, or other compatible word processing programs, such as OpenOffice or WordPerfect.
- Microsoft PowerPoint or compatible viewer (such as OpenOffice presenter).
- Internet access software. Web browser capable of supporting Java and JavaScript: Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer 5.5+, Netscape 7+, Opera 7+. Multiple browsers are strongly recommended (all browsers are free).
- Email software (Outlook Express, Eudora, or Thunderbird) or a free webmail service such as Gmail, Yahoo!, or Hotmail. University of Illinois webmail(@uiuc.edu; @illinois.edu ) is free and required once accepted to the program.
- RealPlayer (a free Web browser plug-in for playing audio and video excerpts)
- Quicktime (a free Web browser plug-in for playing audio and video excerpts)
- AOL Instant Messenger Account (AIM) (this is free, you do not have to be an AOL subscriber to use this)
- Shockwave and Flash Player plug-in (free)
Additional Software Recommendations:
- Spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel (or another compatible program).
Many software packages are available free of charge. Please go to our Student Software page for free downloadable versions.
Where free software isn't available, the University of Illinois may provide academic pricing for computer software and hardware for enrolled students. For more information about academic pricing, see http://webstore.illinois.edu/.
Audio Requirements
Audio to Audio capability is an integral part of the online environment at Education Online. We strongly recommend an audio headset. You can select an affordable, high-quality headset from our Recommended Headsets page. For those of you who are already comfortable with your audio environment, we’ve created this Audio Environment Setup Guide to assist you. In addition, although you'll learn more about the Elluminate Live software in a later section, if your audio is already setup and ready to go, you can configure your audio now by going to the Elluminate Configuration Page (under the 'First Time Users' banner).