Computer or technical skills required

You will need basic computer and technical skills to participate in an on-line learning course. These skills include but are not limited to the following:

• Using a mouse including scrolling, left-clicking and right-clicking.
• Typing information for coursework.
• Creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
• Opening, minimizing and closing computer applications
• Participating in online bulletin/discussion boards.
• Participating in online chat rooms.
• Recognizing and understanding common file formats such as .doc or .docx, .pdf, and .txt
• Using appropriate plug-ins.
• Printing pages from a browser.

Hardware and Software You Will Need

In addition to your computer skills, you will also need adequate hardware and software to participate in an online course:

• Email software - The University provides a Google mail account to all students. Your instructor will send important messages to you at this address. You will need to check your mail at http://mail.zips.uakron.edu/ regularly.
• Document building software such as: Microsoft Office (especially Word, Excel and Power Point) OpenOffice, or Google Docs (free to use to create files that can be opened by an instructor who uses Microsoft Office).
• A supported browser - requiring plug-ins such as Flash, QuickTime, Java, etc. These plug-ins will provide the ability to view scanned articles or play audio or video movies from within your browser.
• A high-speed internet connection such as DSL or Broadband/Cable connection.