James A. Rhodes State College

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Computer Configuration and Computer Skills for Distance Education Courses

Recommended Computer Configuration

• Windows ME, Windows 2000, or Windows XP including all patches & updates
• PC computer, minimum: Pentium 500 MHz or higher with 256 meg of RAM memory.  Suggested:  Pentium 1 GHz or higher with 512 meg of RAM memory
• Sufficient hard drive space to save your files
• Microsoft Office 2003 or Microsoft Office XP preferred.  (Important!  Check with your instructor for software version requirements).  Note:  Those using Microsoft Works must be able to save files in Microsoft Office format in order to use the files on campus.  Open Office is a free suite of consisting of a word procesor, spreadsheet, and presentation software programs.
• Minimum 56k modem (cable modem or DSL is better and is required for watching web casts.
• Internet Service Provider (ISP)
• Internet Explorer, version 7.0 or higher or Mozilla Firefox (free download)
• Some courses may require use of an audio and video player such as RealOnePlayer or Windows Media Player (both available as free downloads) Webcasts require Windows Media Player 9.0
• Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or higher (free download)
• Virus scanning software
• Java (free download)

Recommended Computer Skills

• Able to use, send, and receive email
• Able to use Windows operating system
• Able to navigate your computer's desktop
• Able to use the mouse
• Able to connect to the Internet
• Able to use a web browser Internet Explorer 7.0 and above
• Able to locate information on the Internet by searching
• Able to use the keyboard and word processing software
• Able to save files onto a floppy disk
• Able to use virus scanning software
• Able to find files located on another drive (such as your hard drive)
• Able to save files in different file formats or types (such as saving a file as a Word 2.0, RTF, or XLS spreadsheet)