Technology Requirements

General Personal Computer Requirements

Students enrolled in CGCE online and hybrid courses must own a personal computer that will be their primary computer for use with their courses. That computer should have specifications that meet or surpass the minimum specifications below. All CGCE courses are compatible with both PC (Windows) and Mac platforms. Computer style, desktop or laptop, is to your discretion based on ease of access and need for mobility.

PC (Windows) Users

Mac (Apple) Users

New Personal Computer Purchase Considerations

For students enrolled in a CGCE degree or certificate program in which you will attend a series of online and/or hybrid courses, you should consider investing in a new laptop or desktop computer (unless you have recently purchased a new computer). A good rule of thumb is that your computer should not be more than 2 years old when starting a new program. Your new computer purchase should surpass the Recommended specifications posted above.

Internet Connection

CGCE courses are designed to accommodate most standard Broadband/High-Speed Internet connections**. If you are unsure of your current connection speed, contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) for more information.

** Due to the requirement of most multi-media presentations and software used in online learning environments, high-speed Internet access is now required for all Online & Hybrid courses. As of January 1st 2012, CGCE Division of Online services will no longer support Internet connections with download speeds of less than 1 Mbps, such as dial-up Internet Connections.

Required Software

Microsoft Office is the required standard for word processing (MS Word), spreadsheets (MS Excel), and slide show presentation (MS PowerPoint) software. Student editions of the Microsoft Office suite are available for purchase online from the Rowan bookstore or a vendor of your choice (i.e. Amazon.com).

Web Browsers & Plug-ins

The following software is freely available for download, installation, or upgrade at any time. Students are required to have the latest version of each as shown below. Consult the manufacturer's website for each browser or plug-in to determine if you have the latest version installed on your computer.

* Only available for Windows (Microsoft) computing systems

Data Storage & Back-up

Rowan CGCE Division of Online Services does not provide storage or archiving of student work. Work may be housed in online courses (in the Blackboard system) during the specified offering period of the course (between the course start and end date). All courses hosted in the Blackboard system are removed and archived 30 days from the course end date. Once the course is removed from Blackboard, CGCE cannot restore or retrieve any student’s work or files from the course.

Students should frequently backup copies of all data and files related to online coursework. A large variety of portable storage devices are available for this purpose including portable hard drives, thumb drives, flash drives, jump drives, etc. It is recommended that students purchase/use a USB connected storage device with at least 2 GB of available storage. CD or DVD recordable media is also an effective means of data back up and protection. Alternately, students may consider “cloud” storage services (some of which are free) where files are hosted securely online such as Dropbox.com and Amazon Cloud Drive.

Additional Equipment & Software

Some online or hybrid courses will require the use of additional specialized computer equipment or software. For example, some courses require assignment documents to be scanned into a PDF document using a document scanner. If this is a requirement for the course, you will be expected to either have ready access to a document scanner or obtain your own document scanner.

Some courses utilize specialize software (for example, SPSS for courses with statistical instruction). Specifications related to the software package needed for the course including the appropriate software version(s), optional vendors from whom students can purchase the software, and tech assistance for installation are provided in the course syllabus.

Some courses may have additional specialized equipment required for use with the course. These requirements will be posted by the course instructor in the course syllabus. The instructor may provide additional information and answer questions regarding these requirements. Some requirements may involve additional costs for students, as noted in the course syllabus.

Student Technology Policies

Students enrolled in or considering taking online or hybrid courses with CGCE should carefully review the following student technology policies.

• In order to successfully take part in CGCE courses that utilize online technology, students must have access to a typically configured personal computer and the Internet. Students must have the authority to administratively operate and maintain the computer (install software, make necessary changes to the computer configuration, etc.).  The computer and related technology must meet the CGCE Student technology requirements (available at http://students.rowanu.com). CGCE strongly recommends that each student own a personal computer that will serve as the primary computer for use with CGCE online technology and courses.  Students who use a computer that they do not own (owned by a third-party) as their primary computer for use with CGCE courses are advised against doing so and choose to do so AT THEIR OWN RISK.
• Students are strongly encouraged to use a high-speed Internet connection (approx. 3 Mbps or better download speed) in conjunction with online course materials. While all online course materials and learning environments will be available to users with slower connections (i.e. Dial-up Internet Connection), presentation of multi-media used in conjunction of the course will not be stream-lined for slower connections. Some supplementary online learning tools, such as webinar projects (Adobe Connect), may have limited or no available support for slower Internet connections.
• Rowan University and CGCE does not provide personal computer support (beyond assistance in preparing and configuring your computer to work with CGCE provided Technology and Services). Students are required to maintain their own personal computer and take reasonable steps to ensure computer “health.” Proactive steps may include installing and maintaining a virus protection software package. It is also recommended that students make provisions for support through your computer manufacturer or a third-party technical support service (i.e. Geek Squad) for personal computer support. Students should plan in advance for alternative or emergency computer and Internet access in the event of a personal computer failure or system error.
• Rowan University and CGCE do not provide support or technical assistance for third-party owned computers (computers for which the student is not the owner). This includes but is not restricted to computers owned by a student’s employer or a computer used at a facility such as a library, hotel, computer lab, etc.
• Rowan University and CGCE do not provide support for blocked or filtered Internet connections at a student’s place of work or other third-party locations (specifically, on any Internet connection that is not provided via a residential Internet Service Provider). Some employers may choose to block or filter certain web sites or Internet connections on their networks. Certain Rowan web sites and online services have been known to be inaccessible from within the network of an employer that utilizes network Internet filters, firewalls, etc. It is strongly recommended that students obtain their own reliable Internet connection outside of work; preferably via a residential Internet Connection supplied by a recognized Internet Service Provider (ISP) such as Comcast or Verizon. Students who choose to access CGCE online course technology via an Internet Connection that they do not own or is not provided by a residential ISP do so AT THEIR OWN RISK.
• Whenever a CGCE course syllabus requires the use and purchase of additional equipment or software, CGCE Division of Online Services will provide purchasing recommendations in the course syllabus. CGCE will provide technical support for recommended products ONLY. Students who use equipment or software other than the recommended make and model may be required to provide self-support for said products and do so AT THEIR OWN RISK
• Rowan University and CGCE do not retrieve student work or files from courses that have been removed and/or archived from the Blackboard system. Students are responsible for maintaining, protecting, and backing up all data and files related to their courses (outside of the Blackboard System). Students are advised to maintain their own copies of all work submitted and received via the CGCE Blackboard system. This includes graded documents that may be required at a later date for review (i.e. Portfolio or Benchmark review). Students are strongly encouraged to have a secure and reliable backup solution other than their personal computer (Writable DVD/CD media, external hard drive, flash drive, cloud storage, etc.). Note that student work is archived, but only made accessible to authorized University administration in matters of grade review or grade challenge. There are NO EXCEPTIONS to this policy.
• Students are required to test and prepare their personal computer system for use with CGCE course software in advance of the course start date. This can be done as part of the online student Tutorial or during the Course Preview Week (5 days prior to the start of your Online/Hybrid course). Visit the Bb Help Center from within Blackboard and select the option to check system compatibility.
• All submissions (homework, reports, etc) must be completed using Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) 2003 or newer version software. No other document formats will be accepted unless specifically stated in the course syllabus.

For more information or answers to questions, email online@rowan.edu.

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