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Professional Development through Distance Education

  FIRST YEARS > FAQs LibraryDistance Education Technical/Computer Requirements
vertical line divider To participate in the FIRST YEARS Certificate, you must satisfy certain technical requirements relating to the computer system and Internet service you choose. These specifications, plus needed software downloads, are detailed in this document.

Students participating in the distance-format courses must have access to:

  • Minimum: Pentium 4-level or Macintosh-equivalent computer.
  • Broadband connection, i.e. DSL, ISDN, or cable broadband/DSL
  • CD ROM and DVD Drives
  • Local Internet (World Wide Web) provider. Your service should provide a browser supported by Blackboard, the "course management system" used by UNC for distance courses. Blackboard company states that these  operating system and browser configurations are "fully supported and tested" for version 8 of its software. From a recent communication from UNC UT (September 5, 2009):
    • For Windows Vista users, UNC IT recommends your using Mozilla Firefox as your browser. If you nevertheless decide to use Internet Explorer with Vista, you will need to do some special configuration to use the text boxes within Blackboard. 
    • For Macs, use: 
      • Mac OS 10.3 - Firefox 3.0
      • Mac OS 10.4 - Firefox 3.0 or Safari 2
      • Mac OS 10.5 - Safari 3 or Safari 2
    • Mozilla Firefox (and its mailing program Thunderbird) are downloadable from the UNC-Chapel Hill Shareware site.

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    Other operating systems and browser combinations have not been tested by the Blackboard company and are therefore not "fully supported" by them. In sum, this means that if you are using an operating system and browser combination other than the supported ones, you may need to make some browser adjustments.
     
      • Note for AOL users: FIRST YEARS does not recommend using AOL's proprietary browser with Blackboard. Recommended: Mozilla Firefox.
      • Note for Netscape users:  As of March, 2008, AOL no longer supports the Netscape browser. Downloadable versions are available from its archive page but, again, no official development or support is provided for these versions. You may, however, find unofficial support at one of the many Netscape communities. Recommended: Mozilla Firefox.
      • Note for Mac users: Apple and Microsoft no longer support Internet Explorer for Macs. 
      • Downloads: Windows users (Vista, Windows XP) can upgrade Internet Explorer from Microsoft's download site. Mozilla's Firefox, anti-virus programs, and other software are available free-of-charge from the UNC-Chapel Hill Shareware site.

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  • Anti-Virus Software

  • These days it is extremely important to protect your computer from viruses. There are many good antiviral packages, but make sure that whichever one you purchase is updated frequently and includes free downloads of the latest virus definitions. As enrolled students, you can obtain Norton's Antivirus at the UNC-Chapel Hill Shareware site. If you need a good, free, additional one, try AVG Free from http://free.grisoft.com/.
  • Faxing capabilities
  • Internet/e-mail address. All enrolled students will be communicating with the instructor via

  • 1) e-mail,
    2) "mailto" Weblinks, and
    3) "threaded discussion forums."
     
    • E-mail: If you do not have a regular mail service, you can obtain a free e-mail account from several providers (e.g. http://hotmail.com, http://gmail.com). You will use this address to receive mail sent to you within Blackboard and by instructors/classmates.
    • On occasion, your instructor may require you to create a document using an application program (e.g. Microsoft Word) and attach this document to your e-mail message. If you do not know how to attach files, check your e-mail help facility under the keyword: attachment.
    • "Mailto" Weblinks: All course syllabi have instructor e-mail addresses which, when clicked within the Web document itself, display a "mail compose" form. To send the message(s) you compose, you must first configure your browser to tell it who you are and what your e-mail address is. That is, you must supply the browser with identification about you, the sender. If when you click a mailto link and are able to send it, you are configured. Success! If not, contact http://help.unc.edu to learn more about configuring your browser to handle "mailto links."
    • Discussion forum:  Most courses will use threaded discussion groups, which use the Web's hypertext capabilities to group messages by topic. Blackboard's versions of these are very simple to use. You can see them in action by taking FIRST YEARS' Blackboard Tutorial.

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  • Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint). With the introduction of Vista and Office 2007, you may have to convert these files to "rich text format"  for folks with Windows XP (many still use this) or earlier versions of Office
Browser Test
There are several "plug-ins" needed to handle multimedia and "interactivity" on the Web --  Javascript, Quicktime, Windows Media player, Flash, RealPlayer, Adobe Acrobat "PDF" Reader. These are all needed for your distance courses. To test your computer for some basic system requirements, take the Browser Test below. 

Test your system now.Browser Test

Great ideaShould you need any downloads, make sure you scroll to look for the free readers. Sometimes the first download option will be for a product you must buy. Keep looking! The free reader will be on the page somewhere.

Also, to test whether you can play Quicktime® (.mov) and Windows Media®  (.wmv) files, click on the links below. If you can play them, success! If not, you will need to download these players from the RealMedia, Quicktime and/or Windows Media* sites.

 
RealMediatonguevideo.rv QuickTimetonguevideo.mov Windows media filetonguevideo.wmv

* Note for Mac users: You can download free Flip4Mac™ software to play Windows Media files (.wma and .wmv) directly in your QuickTime Player.

Bobby WorldWide Approved 508
06/25/06

Alexander Graham Bell Association | UNC-CH Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences

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