Center for Distance Learning - NC A&T State University

Technical Requirements

North Carolina A&T State University utilizes the Blackboard
eLearning platform as its academic service provider for online course delivery. Students can gain access to online courses 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The following tables list minimum technical and software requirements needed to access online courses.

Minimum Technical Requirements

Macintosh	PC
Macintosh OS	Pentium II or faster
MacOS 8.1 or higher	Windows 95/98/2000/Me/NT/XP
32 MB RAM (64 Recommended)	64 MB RAM or higher
28.8 kbps modem (56K Recommended) (DSL or high speed cable connection would be ideal)	28.8 kbps modem (56K Recommended) (DSL or high speed cable connection would be ideal)
16 bit (High Color) Video Display - 800 x 600 or greater	16 bit (High Color) Video Display - 800 x 600 or greater
Sound Card & Speakers	Sound Card & Speakers

Suggested Software Packages

Macintosh	PC
Internet Explorer	Internet Explorer
Netscape	Netscape
Windows Media Player	Windows Media Player
RealPlayer Basic Player	RealPlayer Basic Player
Adobe Reader	Adobe Reader
Word Processing, Spreadsheet, and PowerPoint (Microsoft Office Recommended or any that allows you to save documents in rich text format)	Word Processing, Spreadsheet, and PowerPoint (Microsoft Office Recommended or any that allows you to save documents in rich text format)
PowerPoint Viewer (If you don't have PowerPoint. It allows you to view and print PowerPoint slides.) - Freeware	PowerPoint Viewer (If you don't have PowerPoint. It allows you to view and print PowerPoint slides.) - Freeware
All students enrolled in classes that use Blackboard should maintain current anti-virus protection. When you send a file, or when you open a file sent by someone else, a virus may be present without your knowledge. Several reasonably priced anti-virus software packages are available. Two good vendors are Symantec and McAfee	All students enrolled in classes that use Blackboard should maintain current anti-virus protection. When you send a file, or when you open a file sent by someone else, a virus may be present without your knowledge. Several reasonably priced anti-virus software packages are available. Two good vendors are Symantec and McAfee
Anti-spyware and anti-adware packages are highly recommended. A suggested freeware package is Ad-Aware SE. It is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. Popup blockers are also highly recommended. Some good examples include Google Toolbar and MSN Toolbar. Both are freeware. And Windows XP, Service Pack 2, has a popup blocker feature.	Anti-spyware and anti-adware packages are highly recommended. A suggested freeware package is Ad-Aware SE. It is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. Popup blockers are also highly recommended. Some good examples include Google Toolbar and MSN Toolbar. Both are freeware. And Windows XP, Service Pack 2, has a popup blocker feature.
A firewall is essential for DSL and cable modem users. It increases security for any computer connected to the Internet, including dial-up connections.	A firewall is essential for DSL and cable modem users. It increases security for any computer connected to the Internet, including dial-up connections.