Software, hardware and plugins...where to begin?
If you are thinking of taking an online course there are a number of factors that will influence your success and experience. The speed of your internet connection, the right combination of software...depending on your experience level it can seem like a vast and confusing world you've entered into. There is hope, though. The following recomendations have been developed over the past few years by our distance learning instructors and should help insure that your online class expereince is productive and fufilling.
E-mail
An email account is essential and you probably already have one but if you don't there are a number of free email services, including Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail. Signing up for distance learning courses and interacting with fellow students require an email account.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is, most simply, how fast you can send and recieve information. You've probably heard it compared to a pipe. Larger diameter allows more to flow through more rapidly. And its basically the same with bandwidth. Dial up connections are a relatively small pipe. If you have a dial up connection you probably don't watch much video online and downloading files can be a test of your patience. Participating in an online course with a computer connected through dial up can be challenging, at best. Not impossible, but not ideal. Broadband is a bigger pipe. If you are connected to the internet via broadband you should have no problem participating fully in an online course.
If you aren't sure about your connection speed there are a number of sites online that you can use to test your connection. One of the easiest to use is the CNET Bandwidth Meter speed test.
Software plugins
Plugins (or applets) are small pieces of software than extend the functionality of your web browser. The most common plugin is probably Adobe Acrobat Reader, followed by Flash Player. Reader is an application that allows you to view pdf's within your web browser.Flash player is a media player that can display animations, video, etc. If you've every watched video at Youtube you've used the Flash player.
Audio and video
Many distance learning opportunities now make use of audio and video to convey content. This should not present an issue to you if you are connecting via broadband. The audio and video presentations will rely on plugins to display within your browser and if you have surfed the web much it is likely you already have these plugins functioning. If not many times you will be given a link to visit to download and install plugins.
At this point most of the audio and video you encounter will be one way - delivered to you.