As soon as possible — before Spring Break if you can! — it’s helpful to let Spring term students know what they will need to succeed in your upcoming remote course. You can link to this Minimum Technical Requirements document in an announcement to your course, or build your own statement using the sections below.
All courses making use of online resources require:
- Consistent, high-speed internet access
- If you have assignments due once a week, consider whether once-a-week access is enough, or whether multiple days will be required, and state this requirement clearly as soon as possible!
- For instance, a discussion board that requires both a post and replies will require either multiple hours on one day or shorter time over multiple days.
Other hardware requirements:
Requiring Use of: | Students will need: |
Moodle only (assignments, forums, messages, etc.) | Modern computer (<5 years old); Modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari); |
Moodle with multimedia (videos or recordings) | All of the above, plus: Headphones or speakers |
Video conferences (Zoom) | Webcamera or smartphone |
Online homework platform | Modern computer, modern browser; smartphones and tablets may be less reliable for this type of homework |
Written homework | Modern computer, or tablet with a keyboard, or smartphone with dictation capability |
Google Apps | Modern computer or tablet or smartphone; modern browser |
Other software requirements:
Software is less predictable because you may already have required/preferred programs. Here are some possible requirements.
Type of Assignment | Type of software needed |
Written homework | Word processing software: Microsoft Office (free download); Google Apps |
Presentations: building slides | Microsoft PowerPoint; Google Slides |
Presentations: filming or presenting | Screencast-o-matic (free), Zoom (if offering live) |
Attending or participating in web conferences | Zoom |
Turning in large files | Google Drive |
Uploading/sharing videos | Google Drive or YouTube (both available with Lane email account Google access) |