5 Common Technical Requirements for Online Courses

By Ian Acosta on January 15, 2017

So, you are stepping outside the usual bounds of the classroom and enrolling in an online class. For those who have taken an online class before, you most likely know how the style of studying, exam taking, and overall learning will be different. For those of you who haven’t, it can be somewhat of a “learn as you go” type process just to understand the format of the course, much less focusing on the actual course itself.

Going off of that point, just to be able to take the course, certain technological requirements must be fulfilled or else the course will not go smoothly for you. Here are five common requirements I have either personally had in the past or have heard of before for taking online courses.

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1. Internet Access

Might sound like a no-brainer here but it technically is a requirement. Despite what you might think, this has sometimes been a problem for some students. For example, a couple of my former classmates stated that their apartment Wi-Fi was not working and therefore was the main reason they could not complete an assignment on time. The professor was not too pleased to hear that. His response?

“I am sorry, but is there nowhere else on campus you could have gone for internet access?”

This is my point. You must always have access to the class somehow, i.e. apartment Wi-Fi, a local internet café, or even the library. The excuse of not having access to the internet – especially in today’s day and age — is simply outdated and frankly not true. Always, always, always make sure you can get online somehow because the professor likely will not buy the excuse that you can’t.

2. Microsoft Office

Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and Outlook are becoming increasingly necessary for not only online courses but also for in-person courses. Especially for online courses, however, Word and Excel are especially useful for creating reports, tabulating and creating formulas, and creating and giving presentations.

Too pricey? Look in your campus bookstore for discounted student prices that are most likely there. If the most recent version is still out of the ideal price range, look for an older version which is still basically the same thing. Additionally, there are similar programs out there that are much less expensive, or in some cases, free.

Make sure to have some type of software to handle your reports, presentations, and the like for whatever your online class requires.

3. Webcam

Some professors choose to communicate with their students virtually, i.e. lectures, office hours, answering other questions, etc. Some classes require you to attend online lectures. Therefore, a webcam is needed to ensure participation and record attendance.

Most computers nowadays have a webcam built in and so for most this is not a problem. However, for those without one, a cheap alternative exists at most technology stores.

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4. Technical Software

Some online classes require certain software in order to do tasks associated with assignments and the like, or just to access the class in general. For example, I took a couple of online statistics classes recently and they each required different coding software to use. If in a STEM major, I am sure you understand what I’m talking about. Some online classes are completely taught with coding software, therefore making it a necessity to have the proper software to participate.

A friend of mine in a journalism media class that was completely online had to get most of the Adobe programs. In addition to not only writing pieces, she had to create graphs, images, slideshows, animations, and other media pieces as assignments for the class. Technology usage in classes is rapidly growing and I am sure most of you experience this today. However, many I know have benefitted from having to use more and more programs as it exposes them to a wide variety of strategies and techniques to use in their other classes and future careers.

5. Access Codes

A familiar component in online classes is access codes. Access codes are primarily used for access to a certain site to use for the class, access to online textbooks or notes, or even for online exams. Similar to technical software, access codes are immensely important just to even participate in the class nowadays.

With all of the increasing requirements nowadays for both online classes and regular classes, there is so much that must be done just in order to access classes. Online classes, in particular, require specific requirements as listed above in addition to a different way of studying and preparing. Happy studying!

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