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Basic Computer Requirements and Skills
The Advanced Learning Technologies
division has a Web page that lists the minimum requirements in terms of computer
hardware and skills you need to be successful in a course. Follow this link to
see that list
http://www.alt.usg.edu/ecore/fc/computer-reqs.html
I have the following
recommendations about what you need before taking an online course.
Internet Skills
- Use a Web browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer not AOL)
- Be able to decipher a URL (i.e.
http://www.alt.usg.edu/ecore/fc/computer-reqs.html)
- Be able to use Google
- Manage Bookmarks or Favorites
Email Skills
- Send an email message to someone not in your address book
- Add someone to your address book
- Open an email message
- Reply to an email message
- Attach a document & send to someone in an email message
- Open an attached document that someone has sent to you in an email
- Know better than to forward an email that promises Microsoft will send you
a check for $73.34 if you send it to 10 friends
General Skills
- Manage files (locate, copy, attach)
- Download & install software from a website to your computer
- Create a document using Word
- Use a help system to solve a problem or figure out how to do a task that
you do not know how to do (i.e. add a header with page numbers and file name
to a Word document)
- Install Adobe
Acrobat Reader on your computer
- Know that rebooting will solve 83% of all computer glitches
Hardware
- The computer you use needs to be nice. If you don't think it is nice,
then the course will not be nice either.
- The room that you use the computer in must be yours. 'Yours' in that
you control the environment (sound, light, temperature, conversation)
- I strongly recommend broadband. Besides being 50 times faster than
dial-up, you can talk on the phone and be online at the same time. Expect
to pay $49 a month.
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