Back-to-school time for campus-goers is coming up quickly, which means students, parents and teachers will be budgeting for their back-to-school supplies this month and next. For UWA Online’s continuing education e-Learning courses, things are a little bit different in terms of what you need to be well-equipped for class, but certain supplies are still necessary. The back-to-school supplies you need for online courses differ in that all of your work will be done remotely from your computer—meaning having well-working technology is your number one priority.
Specific courses may require specific supplies, but in general, the back-to-school supplies you need for online courses include the following.
- Current desktop or laptop computer. If your computer is a few years old and in good working condition, then you do not necessarily need to go out and buy a new one for our education e-Learning courses. However, newer computers are sure to have sufficient memory and computer processing speeds that will be necessary to access, work on and submit materials for our online continuing education courses.
- Up-to-date operating system. Many of our e-Learning courses require Windows XP, Vista or 7 and Mac OS X 10 or higher with Windows. An outdated operating system can mean that certain programs will be incompatible to run on your computer.
- Broadband or high-speed internet access. This is a requirement for our UWA Online Continuing Education e-Learning courses. Broadband includes DSL, cable and wireless connections. Dial-up is insufficient due to the fact that loading will be too slow, and viewing large audio and video files may be impossible.
- Headphones with microphone. Headphones can be useful in the event that you need to watch a video or listen to a discussion and you do not want to disturb others that may be sharing your space. Some of our courses require or suggest having a microphone for instances of verbal class discussions, or to create recordings.
- Planner. Being successful in an online course that you work on remotely is all dependent on how you organize your time. It helps if you dedicate certain times of day to working on your online courses, and you do not deviate from that plan. Organizing your time in either an electronic planner or a paper one can help you stay on track.
- Pen and paper. Despite the extreme focus on top-notch technology, you should always have pen and paper around in the event that you need to jot down an idea or take a note on the fly. As you listen to discussions, you may prefer to take notes using the tried and true pen-and-paper method, rather than trying to type. These types of school supplies never go out of style!
The back-to-school supplies you need for online courses may go beyond these basics, but this list will help get you started. Another difference between those preparing to physically go back to school, and those planning to register for a remote online course is that with the latter, you get to decide when the best time is for you to start. Register for our online continuing education e-Learning courses at your own convenience, and complete them according to your schedule.
To browse our course offerings, visit www.uwa.edu/ce!