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HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
- To be successful in an online class at
Coastline College, you will need to meet certain minimums. The
only exception is for those students who will be doing their work in
one of the Coastline College computer labs where this equipment is
available.
Telecourse you
will need access to KOCE Channel 50 on your television, or will need
to be a Cable TV subscriber reached by our educational television
channel commonly called "Edu-Cable" in Orange County.
While not required you will probably also want E-mail access if you
plan on submitting your quizzes online, want to correspond with your
instructor elctronically, or want to do certain extra credit
activities (though you may also use U.S. Mail).
For Web courses you
will need at very minimum a 133 mhz multimedia computer with a 56K
modem and a hook-up to the World-Wide-Web. An ideal system would be
a Pentium speed 350 mhz or faster machine with a 56K modem or DSL
connection and a direct Internet account.
INTERNET CONNECTIONS
- Students must provide their own dial-up
access to the Internet unless they are using Coastline College
computer labs.
You will also need an e-mail address
with the ability to send and receive messages. It is important to be
able to use either the latest version of Netscape or Internet
Explorer as your Internet browser. While America Online will provide
some Internet access, direct Internet accounts are preferable such
as those available from Earthlink, GTE, Pacific Bell, and others.
Some course content is available (but not required) by streaming
video. For this you will need a “plug-in” (a small software
program) from Real Networks. This player for viewing and listening
to streaming audio/video files may be
downloaded and installed on your computer for free by visiting the
site noted on the course Web page.
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
Since the Virtual College uses
state-of-the-art teaching techniques, students must have basic software
installed on their computer systems. Most of these programs are free and
can be easily downloaded by visiting the appropriate websites. You will
need:
- Internet Browser system to navigate the
web
- A "REAL VIDEO" software
plug-in to watch streaming media online
- An E-mail account for communications
- A software WORD processor for
course assignments.
- Browser Software The
first thing you will need is an up-do-date web browser, either Netscape
Communicator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. You'll
only need one of these. These two are large programs and therefore
will take a while to download.
- Multimedia Software and Plug-Ins
You'll also need the RealPlayer Basic (not "RealPlayer PLUS
" which you have to pay for ) in order to hear or view
audio or video that will be used in this course. Once you
install it, it will automatically play any sound or video that
appears. If you see a Player below (it looks like a VCR
control panel), then you already have RealAudio installed as a
plug-in for your browser. Click on the play button to make sure
everything works. If you don't see the Player, click on the
hyperlinked text to see if you can still play the audio. If you
can't, then you need to download the RealPlayer by clicking
the icon below.
- Free Internet Mail Service
Microsoft Hotmail: http://www.hotmail.com
Yahoo Mail: http://mail.yahoo.com
- Free Internet Service Providers
(ISP's)
Net Zero: http://www.netzero.com/
Alta
Vista Free Access: http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/altavista/
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