Technology Requirements for Students Taking Online, Remote and Blended Courses

Preparing to Come to UCalgary

All students should ensure they have set up their University of Calgary IT account prior to starting their courses. Your IT account gives you access to many important services, including your UCalgary email, campus WiFi, D2L (Desire2Learn, Brightspace), and myUCalgary. Please visit this website for further information on getting started with IT services.

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Technology Requirements

In order to successfully engage in their learning experiences at the University of Calgary, students taking online, remote and blended courses are required to have reliable access to the following technology*:

• A computer with a supported operating system, as well as the latest security, and malware updates;
• A current and updated web browser;
• Webcam/Camera (built-in or external);
• Microphone and speaker (built-in or external), or headset with microphone;
• Current antivirus and/or firewall software enabled;
• Stable internet connection

* Note: the technology requirements listed might not be used in every course, and/or may be used in different ways. Students should consult with course instructors for a better understanding of the technology needs and uses for individual courses.

Most current laptops and computers will have a built-in webcam, speaker and microphone.

Your instructors may have additional technology requirements, based on the specific needs of your courses. If this applies to your course, the cost would be listed as an approved mandatory supplementary fee and appear in your student centre.  Principles and guidelines for supplementary fees that may be associated with these additional technology requirements can be found at: www.ucalgary.ca/calendar-scheduling/supplementary-fees.

Details of all technology requirements will be outlined in the course outline, as per section E.1 of the Academic Calendar.

Supported computer operating systems

• macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later
• Windows 10 (Home, Pro, or Enterprise)
• Windows 8.1

Recommended web browsers

• Windows: Edge 83+, Firefox 77+, Chrome 83+
• macOS: Safari 11+, Firefox 77+, Chrome 83+

You can test your web browser using D2L Brightspace’s System Check tool.

Processor and RAM requirements

	Minimum	Recommended
Processor	2GHz	Multiple core 2GHz or higher (Intel i3/i5/i7, or AMD equivalent)
RAM	2GB	4GB or higher

Tablets and mobile devices only may be used, but are not recommended as your primary means of participating in online, blended and remote courses.

Internet bandwidth requirements

Zoom recommends a reliable broadband internet connection for participating in large meetings, with 3 Mbps upload and download speed. To test your internet connection, please use SpeedTest.net.

Reducing unnecessary internet use by yourself and others sharing your internet connection (video games, streaming video, file downloads) while you are participating in online and remote class activities will help ensure you have consistent bandwidth.

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Software Available to UCalgary Students

University of Calgary students are able to download Microsoft 365 at no additional cost (https://ucalgary.ca/student-services/guide-services-students#informationtechnologies).

Microsoft 365 includes:

• Email and Calendar hosting;
• Anti-malware and anti-spam filtering;
• Licensing to download the latest version of Microsoft Office on up to 5 devices (including computers, smartphones and tablets);
• Exchange Online Protection (EOP);
• 1 TB of storage for files in OneDrive;
• Word, Excel, PowerPoint Web Apps enabled through OneDrive.

Students are eligible to purchase a variety of software at significant discounts off standard retail prices for home use. This includes software from Microsoft, Adobe, and more. Access to licenses expire upon termination of student status with the University of Calgary. To find out more about purchasing software from the Academic Software Center click on this link. To purchase software, visit https://ucalgarywah.onthehub.com. Students will need to register with their @ucalgary.ca email address.