INFORMATION FOR...
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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:
- IBM compatible (PC) or Macintosh with 500 MHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor or faster
- Graphical user interface operating systems like Windows 2000/XP/ Vista , Macintosh OS9 or OSX, or GNU Linux operating systems with Xwindow
- 256 MB of system memory
- 400MB free hard disk space for class work and software
- (For Windows Vista users) 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
- 56K dial-up, xDSL Modem, or wireless access point
- CD-ROM drive
- Headset (sample recommended headset)
- Soundcard with Speakers
- Video card with 16MB of memory
- (for Windows Vista users) Support for DirectX 9 graphics and 32 MB of graphics memory
Ideal Configuration:
- IBM compatible (PC) or Macintosh with 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor or faster
- Windows XP, or Macintosh OSX operating systems
- 512 MB of system memory or more (1GB of system memory for Vista users)
- 1 GB free hard disk space for class work and software
- (For Windows Vista users) 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
- Cable, DSL, Satellite, or T1 Broadband connection
- CD-ROM drive
- Headset (sample recommended headset)
- Soundcard with Speakers
- Video card with 32MB of memory
- (For Windows Vista users) Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
- WDDM Driver
- 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
- Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
- 32 bits per pixel
- Web Camera (Click here for a list of supported cameras)
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 fee, 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://www.cstores.uiuc.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).