Student Technical Requirements for Online Courses at UNC
Prepared by The Online Instruction Group, Instructional and Information
Systems at the UNC School of Public Health
Our minimum recommended hardware and software guidelines are listed below. If your system does not
meet these minimum guidelines exactly, you are still welcome to consider taking an online
course. If you are pretty far off from these guidelines, however, you may want to consider upgrading the
necessary components to avoid possible problems.
Hardware Recommendations
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1 GHz processor or better
256 MB or more of RAM
20 GB free on the hard disk
56 Kbps or better modem, cable, or LAN connection to the Internet
16-bit or better sound card and speakers
65,000-color or better video display card
15-inch color monitor or larger
CD-ROM or DVD drive
Windows XP or Windows 2000 (with the Microsoft Office suite)
Software Recommendations
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Microsoft Office Suite. It is essential to have Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft
PowerPoint products. Most professors will be using all these applications, and students will need to
both be able to open the associated file types and complete assignments using these applications.
Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher and/or
Netscape Navigator 6.x or higher and/or
Mozilla/Firefox
Flash version 6 or higher
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 or higher
E-mail that sends messages over the Internet and can include file attachments.
Internet Service Providers
Internet service providers, or ISPs, allow you to access the internet from your home computer, through a
modem or cable connection. We have noticed over the years that some ISPs work better with online courses
than others. One important factor is whether an ISP uses a standard Netscape or Internet Explorer browser,
or whether it uses a modified version of one of these, or its own proprietary browser. ISPs that use the later
(AOL is a good example), are not likely to work as well with online courses. Another important factor in
choosing an ISP is the reliability and speed of the connection it offers.
Other Recommendations
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Ink-jet printer (Laser printers are sometimes desirable unless you want color)
4x speed CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive (Faster is better)
Option: A Zip, Jaz, tape, or other removable drive for backing up valuable data
For more info go to http://www.sph.unc.edu/iis/oig/service_center/tech_guide/requirements/index.html