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Hardware/Software Requirements

In order to participate in an E-Learning course at CVTC, students must have reliable access to a computer with Internet access. The computer must fulfill the following minimum requirements. All computers in the student computer labs meet these requirements.

Web Browser

Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher
Netscape 7.1 or higher
Safari 1.0 or higher
Older versions or alternative browsers (such as Mozilla and Opera) may be compatible, but some features might not be available.

Computer/Operating System

Windows 2000, XP, Vista or Mac OS 9, Mac OS X
64 MB of RAM, 500 MB of hard disk space

Software

Microsoft Office*
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Additional Plugins may be required for your course, view a list of plugins available for download
Other software may be required by your course instructor.

* Students can purchase software such as Microsoft Office 2007, Photoshop, and Windows Vista at a dramatically reduced prices at the Wisconsin Integrated Software Catalog website.

Web Conferencing Courses

Because of the special software (Microsoft Live Meeting) used in web conferencing courses, there are additional hardware/software requirements.

Bandwidth Requirements

at least 56 kbps to send/receive data
at least 80 kbps to send/receive voice
at least 350 kbps to send/receive video

Computer/Processor

500-megahertz (MHz) or higher processor, Intel Pentium-compatible
256 megabytes (MB) of RAM (Recommended: 512 MB)
Video card with 64 MB of RAM
Sound card

Display Resolution

Required: Super VGA 800x600 (Recommended: Super VGA 1024x768 or higher)

Software

The Microsoft Live Meeting client is needed to connect to your web conferencing class and can be downloaded for free at this website. 125 MB of disk space is needed for installation.

Other

A headset with microphone is required for web conferencing courses and is available for purchase from the CVTC Bookstore. Students should come to the first day of class with this equipment.